


Give In To Me [Editing Before Updating Again]

by LunaTheAwesomeJordan



Series: Give In To Me [1]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Action/Adventure, Bonding, Contains Occasional Original Chapters, Contains Original Species, Eventual Romance, F/M, Fantasy, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Horror, More warnings inside, Not Beta Read, Not Original Dialogue, Original Character(s) Have Powers, Original dialogue, Read Before You Judge, Season/Series 01, Sexual Content, Slow To Update, Sorry Not Sorry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-30
Updated: 2018-07-31
Packaged: 2018-12-21 18:51:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 15
Words: 289,854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11950479
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LunaTheAwesomeJordan/pseuds/LunaTheAwesomeJordan
Summary: While living life as normally as they could, half-sisters Riley Piers and Selena Grant find themselves further entering the world of many unnatural dangers as a sudden turn of events changes their course when a being from Riley’s past comes back and shakes her world once again. Upon the ending of the event, both half-sisters make the greatest and worst decision of their lives by becoming Hunters...





	1. A Much Needed Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I own only all my original characters and ideas within this fanfic.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Basically, this is just an introduction to this book/series. In this chapter (that is practically Chapter 0), the two main original female characters of this book are born and a secondary, barely reoccurring original female character is introduced. While they (the main two ofcs) clearly won't be doing much apart from crying or staring because they are infants, you get to see what their families are like. To an extent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Original Content and Dialogue, Errors of Any Kind (Grammar, Phrasing, Spelling, Etc.), Teen Pregnancy (Don't Let It Affect Your Will To Read Because It Only Shows Up This Chapter), Kinda Short In Length, Introduction of Various Original Characters, No Sign of Non-Original Characters Within This Chapter (Sorry, Not Sorry), Potentially Has Cringey Dialogue, Stupidly Named Species Introduced (And I'm Never Changing It Because In A Later Season, Dean Gives A Ridiculous Name To A Species)
> 
> The Cast Listing Below Will Only Show Those Who Weren't in Supernatural Originally, as Far as I'm Aware. I Thought You'd Want a Face to the Names. Additionally, I'll Only Mention Ages In The Casting When You Need To Imagine The Person At That Age.
> 
> Adrian Pasdar (At Age 19-20) as Ryan Piers  
> Jessalyn Gilsig (At 13-14) as Christi Moore  
> Emmanuelle Chriqui (At Mid 20s) as Rebecca Grant  
> Jim Pirri as James Grant  
> Victoria Justice (At Age 16) as Juliet Grant

_Drench yourself in words unspoken_  
_Live your life with arms wide open_  
_Today is where your book begins_  
_The rest is still unwritten_

_(Unwritten : Natasha Bedingfield)_

* * *

**~April 2nd, 1984; Raleigh, North Carolina; 2:15 am~**

        Loud cries of a newborn child filled the atmosphere of a suburban household. Heavily panting on a makeshift bed was the young mother of the newly born baby, fresh tears running down her pale cheeks and her forehead was soaked in sweat. She was semi-lying on the bed that she had given birth on, her back propped up by the small wooden headboard and very few pillows. She was attired in only a simple white nightgown, her light chestnut-brown hair hanging limply over her shoulders. As her breathing became even and the pain from labor faded, Christi Moore smiled to herself as her denim-blue eyes locked onto the man that was holding her child,  _their_  daughter. She regretted absolutely nothing, from getting pregnant at thirteen to the many months of waiting and the painful hours of labor; it had all been worth it in the very end.

        Ryan Piers was smiling down at his newborn daughter. He held her firmly in his tanned grip, keeping her wrapped up with a soft blue blanket; truth be told, he and his lover had been hoping for a son. In fact, the lovebirds had actually chosen to keep the gender a secret until the birth occurred and that turned out to have been a horrible idea. However, that didn't matter because having a daughter didn't make them any less happy to be first-time parents. It was clear in his dark amber-brown eyes that he loved his daughter very much, even though she had only been officially part of his world for ten minutes.

        As the casually dressed nineteen-year-old cradled his newborn daughter, her constant distressed cries faded into small whimpers before she became completely silent. She stared up at him with light jade-green eyes, a color that neither parent had. She had very little hair amongst her tiny head, but of what could be seen was dark reddish-brown; perhaps, in the future, her hair would change to match her father's chocolate-brown color. She was a special child in various ways, but what made her the most unique was that she happened to be  _slightly_  supernatural, just like her parents. That was the main reason behind the home birthing; her parents didn't want to risk anything unnatural occurring at the hospital, so they prepared themselves for her arrival at their own household and as a result, the newborn's father had taken the role of a midwife.

        "Can I hold her?" Christi asked, her voice hoarse from the screaming she did minutes earlier. She smiled tiredly as Ryan looked towards her, their daughter still in his arms. "Or do you plan on keeping her all morning?" she continued in question, speaking jokingly. She wanted to hold her daughter, but admittedly, she enjoyed watching her boyfriend hold their baby because he just looked so fatherly. She couldn't help but feel that he would spoil their daughter for the rest of her life and that wouldn't really surprise her because he seemed like that type of parent.

        Ryan released a chuckle as he approached her. "Can you really blame me for that, though?" he questioned. "She's a beauty." He carefully sat down on the left side of the bed, making sure he didn't sit on his girlfriend's leg as he did so. He gently handed their daughter over to her, allowing Christi to hold her for the first time that early morning. He smiled to himself as he watched her smile down at their daughter. She held her newborn close to her clothed bosom. "She still needs a name," he pointed out after a moment of silence.

        "I'm well aware of that," Christi answered softly as she continued to smile down at their nameless daughter. Their quiet newborn stared back at her innocently, one of her tiny pale hands wrapping around her mother's finger. "Hey there," she said in a loving tone. "I'm your mama." She gently moved the finger that her newborn was holding onto, causing their infant to smile in response. Christi released a tired giggle before she looked over at Ryan. Her happiness seemed to fade suddenly, however, as she recalled his statement and she started frowning, letting out a sigh. "Unfortunately, we only thought up a name for a boy…"

        Ryan half-smiled, nodding slightly. He didn't like that any more than she did; he wished they had thought up a name for a female, too. "Yeah, I know, but Riley would be a great name for a girl, don't you think?" Riley Lee Piers was the name they were planning to give their son, the one that they had so greatly believed they would have. However, maybe they could still name their daughter, Riley Piers, and just figure out a decent middle name from there.

        Christi appeared to think it over before she looked down at their daughter again. Then, she looked back up at him. She smiled a little, her spirit lifted. "I suppose it would be." She looked back down at little Riley. "Do you like that name? Hmm?" She poked Riley's nose, which resulted in Riley moving her other tiny hand as she tried to grip another finger of her mother. Christi laughed, smiling widely. "Little Riley Jane Piers. That's your name," she cooed. She leaned down and kissed Riley's forehead. "I love you, my little Riley."

        "Jane?" Ryan questioned. He appeared to get teary eyed as he stared at her. "After my mother?" His mother had passed away in a car accident three years beforehand and she had been such a lovely, compassionate woman. He had been relieved that she hadn't left the world in a more violent manner because of his slightly abnormal lifestyle, but he missed her all the same, no matter what way she died. He was touched that his girlfriend, who he wanted to marry someday, would do that in honor of his mother's memory. He rubbed his eyes after blinking away the tears, making sure nothing slipped down his cheeks; he was supposed to be manly, not femininely sentimental, but perhaps he just hated looking weak in front of others.

        Christi looked back towards Ryan, a small smile on her face. "Yes," she whispered, even though she didn't need to answer him. "It's okay to cry," she continued, still speaking in a whisper. "I know you miss her a lot." In response, he simply just shook his head and he waved off her statement. Christi shook her head slightly as she stared at him, closing her eyes momentarily before forcing them back open; she was tired but she didn't want to rest, not yet. She knew that she'd have to feed Riley at some point, but she was too tired for that right that moment. Thankfully, Riley didn't seem to be hungry at all.

        Suddenly, a slight breeze blew through a cracked window and it sent shivers through Ryan. "It's much colder than I thought it would be," he commented as he looked towards the window, rubbing his long-sleeved clothed arms. His gaze shifted away from it after a moment had passed, his sight locking onto the fireplace that sat a small distance from the makeshift bed. As he stared at it, a small orange flame began to come to life within it and little by little, it started to grow until it was giving off a blast of heat. "Any better?" he asked his lover, wanting to make sure that she and their daughter weren't cold. Christi gave a small nod in response before she looked down at their newborn lying in her arms, her small smile remaining upon her face as she watched mini Riley fall asleep. A thoughtful look crossed her happy expression as she stared at her child. "Wondering what powers she could end up with?" Ryan questioned her and she nodded in answer. Riley could have either her father's pyrokinesis, her mother's ability to shape-shift into any animal, or her own personal power but whatever power she had was a mystery right that moment because Riley was just a newly born infant. "Whatever she develops, we'll always be there for her," Ryan stated after a moment of thinking it over. Christi gave a sign of agreement by nodding; whatever Riley became in their future, whether she was powerless or powerful, she wouldn't be loved any less...

**~July 28th, 1985; Raleigh, North Carolina; 3:25 am~**

Strong wailing noises were erupting inside a large, beautiful mansion, followed up by the sounds of shushing. Rebecca Grant was sitting on the edge of her king-sized mattress in the master bedroom that she and her husband shared. She was rocking her distressed newborn daughter, Selena Elizabeth Grant, in hopes of calming her down; for several minutes, her child had been releasing sobs that could shake the earth beneath them. Tension laid prominent in the atmosphere around them and it was growing stronger each passing moment. "Shh, hush now, little one. Calm down, my darling," Rebecca stated in a cool tone, trying continuously to sooth her infant. Her wavy coal-black hair swayed gently with the rocking motions she was making, the tips brushing against her shoulders. With much effort, Selena calmed down but she continued to appear as if she would release another cry at any given moment. "That's my little sweetheart." Rebecca cuddled her newborn delicately, smiling brightly down at her. "Ryan, isn't she magnificent?" she asked suddenly, her dark chocolate-brown eyes shifting onto the figure at the doorway.

        Ryan, dressed entirely in casual wear, stared at his tiny newborn infant with a small smile. He took notice of the fact that his daughter had bright chocolate-brown eyes and what little hair she had was a medium chocolate-brown color. With everything that had occurred up until that moment, he couldn't help but feel attachment towards her; little Selena was his daughter, no matter the unfortunate circumstance of her conception. "Yeah," he answered halfheartedly. "She is." His smile became one of sadness as he continued to stare at little Selena, his heart slowly breaking. About nine months before then, he had fucked up terribly when he went to a bar and slept with Rebecca after getting drunk off his ass; because of that turn of events, his relationship with Christi was hanging by a thread. Furthermore, he was greatly surprised when Rebecca showed up at his home one day, heavily pregnant with his love child; that event didn't go very well either because that was when Christi found out about Ryan's one night stand mistake. Despite all of that, he didn't regret creating Selena but he regretted that it wasn't his ex girlfriend who mothered her.

        Standing across from Ryan at the doorway was Rebecca's husband, James Grant. Attired in fancy clothing, he stood with his large arms crossed over his chest. His dark amber-brown eyes were on the newborn child that didn't belong to him. "I don't see what's so special about her," he rudely commented. "She's just like any below average infant." He was the reason behind the tension in the room; he hated Ryan for getting his wife pregnant. However, he didn't hate his wife for having an affair because he didn't see it as such; he himself often slept with other women because he and his wife had an open relationship, but at least he had the decency to prevent a pregnancy from happening with those girls. He grumpily ran a hand through his short dark platinum-brown hair, releasing a huff of breath.

        Rebecca sent a glare his way, displeased with his behavior. "Just because she isn't your daughter, it doesn't mean you shouldn't love her like one. She's a part of me and you surely love me. Therefore, you can learn to love her just as much." She looked back down at little Selena and her gaze softened as she noticed that Selena was about to start making a fuss again. "Hush, little one. It's okay, Mama's here. Shh." When Selena began fussing despite her mother's attempts to prevent it, Rebecca released a long sigh as she started rocking her daughter again. "She's a fussy little thing, isn't she? She's an Immortal, alright." Immortals, or Immortal Beings (for lack of a better name of their species), were inhuman persons that were unable to continue aging after they hit a certain age limit; additionally, they didn't need anything vital, they rarely had special abilities of their own, and they  _almost_  were unkillable. The only known Immortals around that area were Rebecca, James, and their daughter, Juliet Grant. Although she was hoping that Selena would be like her and the rest of the family, Rebecca didn't consider the fact that Selena would be half and half because of Ryan being a human.

        James scoffed at the slender woman he claimed as a wife. "Immortal?" He gestured as he spoke, waving his hands around for emphasis. "You created  _it_ with this pathetic excuse for a human. She isn't gonna be exactly what we are; she'll be half of him. I don't want her in this house. She's not one of us." He hated Selena as much as he hated Ryan; in fact, he hated most humans apart from the few he had slept with at some point in his hundred years of life. He didn't want a mundane living under his roof, half human or otherwise. Hell, he didn't want her to exist at all, but he wasn't about to murder a newborn in front of his wife; he could always try to kill her later in life.

        "You have no say in this matter," Rebecca sneered. "She's not your biological daughter. You can't choose what becomes of her." She knew that she would win the argument; she was always getting her way. Selena was gonna stay with them forever. James would just have to get use to her being around and perhaps then would his thoughts of her change for the better. Rebecca gently caressed Selena's tiny rosy cheek. "She's staying here where she belongs."

        Ryan shifted uncomfortably where he stood, hesitating to speak up. "...Will I be able to visit her?" he asked Rebecca. He wanted to see his daughter often in the future. They couldn't just keep him from seeing her again; he could read between the lines, knowing that there was a reason why he wasn't mentioned by Rebecca. As much as he wanted to see his daughter again at some point, he knew that he would have no choice but to agree with their terms or die a violent death; there was no way he could get what he wanted without suffering, even though he had a right to see her again whenever he pleased.

        "No," Rebecca answered immediately, not bothering to look up at him. "Your purpose has long been served. You were allowed here today because she was about to be born and you deserved to witness it. However, you're not allowed to see her ever again. You won't be able to care for her properly and your existence shouldn't be made known to her. She's not like you and she never will be." She didn't care about Ryan, she never did. She had merely used him for her own entertainment and a beautiful accident happened. She wanted nothing to do with him anymore and she wasn't about to allow him visitation rights. His job was done with.

        Ryan didn't open his mouth again as he stared at Selena once more. He frowned as he thought about never being able to witness her growing up. He wished to be part of her life, but there wasn't anything he could do about it; he couldn't fight to keep her because he'd just get himself killed and he'd be leaving Riley's life as well if that happened. Additionally, he certainly couldn't take legal actions against Rebecca because she would just slaughter those that were against her and then, she would likely get out of dodge with all of her family and never be seen again. In the end, she would win either way.

        "May I hold her?" he asked politely. If he couldn't be in her life, he wanted to hold her once before he left for good. Rebecca stared at him with narrowed eyes, cautious about his request. He sighed. "I swear that I'm not gonna do anything. You'd kill me if I did," he informed her. "I just want to hold her once before I never see her again," he continued, his voice cracking. Rebecca continued to stare at him before she finally nodded, gesturing with her head for him to come closer. He slowly approached her and he held out his arms, ready to take Selena from her. When she was within his firm grip, he pulled her close to his person and he kissed her forehead. "Hey, baby girl," he whispered, his voice still cracking. "Daddy loves you very much. Daddy will always love you, even if you don't think he does when you're older." He had tears in his eyes, but he didn't allow them to spill; he wasn't about to show all of his emotions to these cruel beings that were gonna keep his daughter from him.

        The bedroom door creaked open, making all the adults in the room face towards it. Sixteen-year-old Juliet walked into the bedroom, attired in a simple black dress that matched her mother's nightgown. She smiled sweetly when she caught sight of Selena in Ryan's arms. In her pale hand was a bottle of milk that she had prepared. "How's my little half-sibling doing? Is she still being fussy? I figured she was hungry or something, so I made this for her." She strolled by her father and approached Ryan with a very kind smile remaining on her face. Out of the three Immortals in the room, she was the nicest of them. "Would you like to do the honors of feeding her?" she asked him kindly, her dark nut-brown eyes locked on him. She looked almost identical to her mother, sharing multiple physical features with her; she had a slender figure and wavy locks of hair, the coloring of it being more similar to her father's.

        "Yes," he answered immediately, wishing to spend as much time with Selena as he could. "Yes," he repeated seconds later, sounding less eager as a hint of blush formed in his cheeks. He felt a little embarrassed for acting like that in front of them, but the feeling passed as quickly as it had came.

        Juliet laughed a little bit. "Somebody's eager to care for their child. You don't have to be all embarrassed about it, though. My parents were like this, too, when I was brought into the world." She handed the bottle of milk over to him and she watched as he placed the nipple of it to infant Selena's lips. She continued to smile as Selena happily took it into her mouth. "You're really good at this, you know. Do you already have a child of your own? I mean, did you have one before her?" she asked, out of curiosity. That was honestly her first time meeting him officially; she had only heard about him from her parents beforehand and the remarks they made were always rude. She didn't allow her parents' negative views towards Ryan affect her own view of him, especially when she hadn't even met the man. Upon seeing him holding Selena, she knew that he was a good man, just by his behavior alone.

        Ryan looked up at her as he looked away from Selena, staring at Juliet for a short moment. "...Yes," he answered after a few seconds. "Her name is Riley. She's only one." He felt like he could trust Juliet; he could easily tell that she was far different than her cruel parents. Knowing that Selena would have Juliet by her side as she grew up, he felt a little reassured that his newest daughter wouldn't become like James and Rebecca. He'd hate for that to occur, for her to be like them.

        Juliet nodded, continuing to smile. "I see. Well, they are both lucky to have you in their lives." Ryan didn't answer, knowing that wasn't true because he was getting kicked out of Selena's life permanently. Juliet quickly noticed his silence and she frowned for the first time. "What's the matter? I can tell that you're dismayed. Did I say something wrong? Did I miss something whilst I was gone?" She looked pass him, eyeing her mother. "Mother, what's going on?" She had a strong feeling that her mother had said something earlier to the man.

        "It's nothing," Ryan told her quickly, not wishing to cause trouble for anyone. He began to hand Selena over to Juliet reluctantly, knowing that he needed to leave because he was overstaying his welcome. She took Selena in her arms with mixed emotions filling her being, happy to hold her half-sister and confused about Ryan's sudden behavior. "I need to go. It's getting late," Ryan continued. He leaned forward and whispered into Juliet's ear. "Take care of her. Don't allow her to become like them." With that said, he walked by her and left without another word. Juliet watched him go, still confused as she held and feed baby Selena...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The trivia that you are about to see is a replacement for author's notes. It seemed like a bright idea at the time.
> 
> Trivia:
> 
> 1) How I Created Juliet, Riley, and Selena: I've read loads of fanfictions for Supernatural and only few inspired me to create my own. Additionally, the show itself inspired me to make a fanfiction for it. I've seen fanfictions that had sisters meeting the brothers and this occurred in multiple fanfics I've read, but it occurred in two different ways; either the sisters were biologically related or they were related by marriage, but they both ended up close to the same thing (both sisters (S) with both brothers (B) = B&S + B&S). So, that's how the half sisters thing was created and they are still related in some sort of way (well, one is related to two while the two are not related to one another, which leaves the unrelated ones open to date brothers without it being a bit awkward).
> 
> 2) I will make this clear right now, this being a follow-up to the previous 'trivia' fact I wrote. This is NOT one of THOSE stories. I mentioned the Brother with Sister plus Brother with Sister thing, but that ain't happening here. It's far too awkward for my tastes. There are many, many possibilities as to who ends up with who but you'll figure that out some point in this series. And it's very likely that you'll know just from the first few chapters who is ending up with who, or at least, two out of three. (2018 A/N: As of now, all main pairings have been confirmed)
> 
> 3) Juliet is a recurring character. She will only show up in most original chapters and (at least) two episodic chapters per season; although for the latter, it may just be small scenes with her in it, for now. Additionally, there is no significance to why I named this character Juliet. Simply, I just wrote down the first female name that came to mind and Juliet just happened to be the first name. Same method with her last name. Her birthday will remain unknown as of now, other than she is sixteen years older than Selena (I suppose only the year of her birth is known).
> 
> 4) There won't be very many original chapters. Five, at most, each season. Two-to-Three, at least.
> 
> 5) Selena's birthday, minus the year, is my birthday while Riley's birthday, minus the year, is the birthday of one of my former friends (2018 update: I'm friends with that person again). Selena happens to be named after Selena Quintanilla-Perez, the Queen of Tejano music (aka a singer) who was murdered in 1995. I did this because I'm fond of her music and while this is my reasoning for naming her Selena, it's not her parents' reason.
> 
> 6) Riley Piers is a play-on name for Riley Biers, a vampire from Twilight: Eclipse who was tricked by a vampire named Victoria. Whether or not this Riley will be tricked by a vampire as well is undecided.
> 
> 7) Riley Piers and Selena Grant have the same father, making them half sisters. Selena has the same mother as Juliet Grant, making them half sisters. Juliet and Riley, however, are not related in any kind of way.
> 
> 8) Ryan Piers is a special human with the power of Pyrokinesis. Christi Moore is a special human with the power of Shape-Shifting (into animals). Rebecca, James, and Juliet Grant are Immortals or Immortal Beings and I will reveal that out of the three, only two have special powers that'll be revealed in Chapter One: Past Is Present. Selena Grant will be half and half of both species, and she will have special powers that'll be revealed in Chapter One: Past Is Present. Riley Piers is a special human with powers that'll be revealed in, you guessed it, Chapter One: Past Is Present.
> 
> 9) I have a co-author for this story, but she will only be slightly present for most original chapters, due to her working and being busy with other things. She has not seen the show, therefore it'll only be the original chapters that she helps me with.
> 
> 10) Lastly, occasionally, there will be added references that may or may not had been in the show originally. Most likely, they hadn't been until I added them. Additionally, there will be song lyrics at the beginning of each chapter, the song fitting along with the chapter in some sort of way.


	2. The Past Is Present

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter follows the everyday life of half-sisters Riley Piers and Selena Grant, the two main female original characters that were introduced as babies in the previous chapter. Things, however, take a turn for the worst when the two discover an unfortunate and slightly expected (for you, the readers) turn of events upon reentering their home one night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Original Content/Dialogue, Errors of Any Kind, Large Time-Skip (Quite Large), Flashbacks Featured, Sensitive Topic(s), Sexual Content, Gore, Original Character Deaths, Potentially Dumb Scenes, High Possibility of Realistic Actions, Small Possibility of Unrealistic Actions, Long Chapter Ahead of You, No Sign of Non-Original Characters, Hints of Clichés, Info Drops
> 
> From Now On, Most of the Actors and Actresses I'm Adding Do Not Portray Characters From Their Actual Age In Real Life of Said Years Mentioned. They Are Just Faces to the Names, As Mentioned In the Prologue. When I Put Ages Beside Their Name in The Casting List, It's What Age You Need To Imagine Them As. I Might Stop Doing This In The Future, Though. All Depends, Really.
> 
> Adrian Pasdar (At 38-39) as Ryan Piers  
> Jessalyn Gilsig (At 32-33) as Christi Moore  
> Emmanuelle Chriqui (At Mid 20s) as Rebecca Grant  
> Victoria Justice (At 18-19) as Juliet Grant  
> Hayden Panettiere (At 17-19) as Riley Piers  
> Nina Dobrev (At 16-18) as Selena Grant  
> Rami Malek as Brian Alderson  
> Sarah Wayne Callies (At 35) as Leslie Swan  
> Emma Roberts (At 17-19) as Emily Swan/Mara

_Well, starting here, my life begins_  
_Starting now, I'm learning fast_  
_Courage, see me through_  
_Heart, I'm trusting you_  
_On this journey to the past_

_(Journey to the Past - Aaliyah)_

* * *

**~August 9th, 2003; Raleigh, North Carolina~**

        An alarm clock began to sound, beeping loudly throughout the dimly lit bedroom. Releasing out a groan, Riley Piers reached out from underneath her covers and she pressed the snooze function on the device, after failing multiple times beforehand. With a loud huff, she opened her light jade-green eyes and she removed the blanket from her torso, moving into a sitting position on the bed. She ran a hand through her long, messy, wavy bright sandy-blonde hair that originally was thought to be dark reddish brown upon her birth. She stood from the bed, her slender figure becoming more visible in the dim light as she approached the closet at a slow pace.

        Pulling the closet door open, she looked through all of her clothing and she quickly picked out the perfect outfit for that day; after removing her nightwear and throwing on a matching pair of laced undergarments, she put on a fuchsia cowl-neck top, skinny blue jeans, and studded wooden heels. Afterwards, she closed the closet door and stepped away from it, approaching her nearby music stand. Oddly enough, a jewelry box was sitting on top of it. Opening up the box, she pulled out a silver ring that was engraved with a crescent moon made of teal blue diamonds and a brilliant starburst with a shining white diamond. Almost completely prepared for the day, the nineteen-year-old headed out of her bedroom silently.

        Within that same bedroom, a figure moved on the bed opposite of Riley's. Sleeping soundlessly was Selena Grant, the eighteen-year-old half-sibling of Riley; she had been living there with her half-sister, their father, and her half-sister's mother for the past five years, all thanks to James Grant. When she was still living with her Immortal mother and other half-sister, Selena and James had a falling out that almost became lethal and in order to protect her from further harm, Rebecca Grant sent her off to live with her biological father, Ryan Piers. Although Christi Moore-Piers and Ryan welcomed her into the family with ease and eagerness (Christi showed no signs of hatred towards the young girl and Ryan showed he was overjoyed to be in her life), Riley's relation with Selena had been very rocky at the start; however, the two of them eventually became rather close as time went on. Additionally, because of the falling out, Selena was no longer allowed to return to her original home because violence would certainly ensue once more; as a result of it, plans were created and every other day for five years, a meet-up between Selena, Juliet Grant, and Rebecca would occur at the local diner.

        Selena let out a yawn as her eyes fluttered open, indicating that she had  _mostly_  woken up. Sitting up in the bed, she brushed her long medium chocolate-brown hair out of her face with one hand. Her bright chocolate-brown eyes wandered to the empty bed beside her and she smiled to herself, shaking her head slightly. She brushed the blanket off of her body with care and she stood up from the bed, turning around to fix it. Shortly afterwards, she stretched her arms out above her head and she slightly twisted her slender figure. After she finished her short warm-up, she walked over to the closet and opened it, quickly pulling out random pieces of clothing from her side before she closed the closet door. Putting the clothing onto her made bed, she removed her nightwear and used undergarments before she began getting dressed; firstly, she pulled on a fresh pair of silky undergarments and shortly afterwards, she got clothed in a simple black sleeveless top, chic black silk pants, and black-and-white harlequin pumps.

        She strolled towards the black-framed wardrobe mirror that sat in the far corner of the bedroom. She smiled approvingly at her lovely reflection as she looked over her attire for a moment. Pleased with her look, she walked away from the mirror and headed back over to her bed. She picked up two items that were lying on the nightstand and she placed them onto her being, one at a time; the first piece of jewelry was an unusual Titanium Druzy Stone pendant that looked stunning with its rich navy rainbow drusy elements and its unusual crystal shape, held by a simple golden chain and the second item was an even more unusual ring that consisted of a blue-iris glass-eyeball with teeth around it.

        Shortly after placing on the jewelry, she left the bedroom. She headed down the hallway and walked towards the occupied bathroom, the door wide open with the light shining into the hall. Stepping into the medium sized washroom, she leaned against the door frame as she watched Riley place a hairbrush down on the sink counter. She continued observing as her half-sibling reached for a toothbrush, the latter remaining unaware of Selena's presence. As Selena silently continued watching Riley while she brushed her teeth, she smiled to herself again as she thought of the reasoning behind why Riley was getting so presentable; her half-sister was gonna be giving her boyfriend  _another_  visit.

        As Riley leaned over the sink to spit out toothpaste, she suddenly felt the sensation of being watched. After spitting and wiping toothpaste from her mouth, she glanced towards the bathroom door and she jumped slightly when her eyes landed on Selena. "Jesus Fucking Christ, Selena. You really need to stop doing that shit. You know I don't like it when people sneak up on me like that," she told her, not angry but slightly irritated. Placing her toothbrush where it belonged, she turned to face Selena fully. She stared at her for a moment before she started speaking again. "You know, it's really impolite to stare at someone when they're getting ready," she pointed out, still speaking kindly.

        Selena tilted her head as she stared at Riley curiously. "It is customary for individuals to admire beauty when they see it, correct?" she asked in a gentle tone. The beauty of her half-sibling never ceased to intrigue her and she often found herself unable to look away. Additionally, it wasn't just her half-sister's looks that intrigued her; anything and everything beautiful often caught her attention because she was fascinated by the people and things of the world.

        Riley nodded shortly. "Yeah," she answered. She gestured towards Selena. " _However_ , you're being a little weird about it. In fact, you're kinda creeping me out right now." She was feeling a bit uncomfortable with her sibling staring at her like that, but she was fairly aware that Selena meant no harm by it. She picked up the hairbrush she had previously placed down and she took several steps towards Selena, holding the brush out to her. "I don't have to worry about buying some sort of safety mechanism, do I? Because I'll buy a whistle if I have to," she joked, smirking a bit. "Or maybe I should buy you a collar that has a bell attached to it, that way I'll know when you're near me so I don't have any potential heart attacks."

        Selena frowned, displeased with Riley's mannerism. "You should not joke about those kinds of matters, Riley. It insults those that have truly been unfortunately victimized, whomever they may be." She knew the limits to certain jokes and various other matters. She wished Riley had a better sense of humor, but there was nothing she could actually do about that; it simply was just how Riley was and what she probably would always be. She gently took the hairbrush from Riley and she stepped around her, moving to stand in front of the sink. She started to brush her messy hair, working with care to make it presentable for the day.

        Riley released a long sigh as she turned around, facing Selena once again. "Selena, it was just a joke," she weakly defended. "I meant absolutely nothing by it, you know that, right?" She released another sigh when Selena responded with mere silence as she continued fixing her hair. "I guess I shouldn't have said something like that, regardless of it being a joke. I'm sorry." She gestured towards her face, a hint of a smirk forming on it. "You know how stupid shit always slips pass these naughty lips of mine out of impulse. I can't control it."

        "Are you going to see Brian again?" Selena asked, changing the topic at hand as she finished brushing her hair. Brian Alderson was Riley's boyfriend and she had been dating him for approximately a year. Selena honestly was happy that Riley had finally found someone to settle down with because she highly disapproved of Riley's previous methods of sleeping around with random men and women. Although Riley didn't say much about her relations with Brian, she often would tell Selena about her previous nightstands (for whatever reason) and she would do so very descriptively that it often caused Selena to have unwanted disturbing images inside her head. Additionally, while Selena was supportive of Riley's relationship with Brian, she hadn't approved of the relationship at the very beginning for a multitude of reasons.

        Riley smiled to herself as Brian was brought into the conversation. "Yeah, I'm spending the day at his place since he's off work. We're gonna watch a couple movies and we're probably gonna make-out a little bit. We might even fuck, too. So, basically just the usual couple stuff him and me do whenever we're together." She undeniably lacked a few morals, but so did most people in the planet. She hadn't bothered to wait until marriage for sex because she honestly hadn't given a damn about waiting for what was claimed to be the correct time and she continued to be uncaring about it. Additionally, she didn't care about the fact that her relationship with Brian had started off as adultery, her boyfriend originally being married when they first started fucking, because he divorced the bitch a few months afterwards and that made Riley the better woman in the end. As an added bonus, Brian was a really sexy man and she could have all the sex she wanted with him without the consequence of awkward aftermath. Furthermore, she could actually see herself marrying him someday because she was beginning to fall in love with him.

        "Him and I," Selena corrected. "I believe that 'him and me' is grammatically incorrect." She placed the brush down and she turned her head towards Riley. "I've never asked this and you've never told me such on your own time, but why is it that you chose to go against specific morals?" She paused for a second, tilting her head slightly to the left. "And why do you choose to inform me of these private matters of yours?" she asked. She was unaware of Riley's ordinary reasoning for being somewhat without morals and of why Riley told her of things that most would keep to themselves.

        Riley answered nonchalantly. "Well, for starters, I didn't care about waiting for marriage because fuck that noise and I didn't care that Brian had been married at the time because he was really hot, and he still is by the way,  _and_  the sex had been so totally worth the drama that happened. Secondly, I tell you these things because you feel more like my best-friend than my sister sometimes." She faltered for a moment. "Okay, that's not a lie but that's not the actual reason either. The real reason why I tell you everything is because I don't give a shit about keeping secrets of any kind. Unless, you know, it's something related to my powers." She was open about everything with everyone, except her powers because that was meant to remain secret unless the person was trustworthy or the person was supernatural. Additionally, she definitely/probably would also keep feelings of love a secret for personal reasons.

        "Half-sister," Selena corrected automatically, turning her head back towards the mirror. She looked down and reached for her toothbrush. She released a sigh, going through everything Riley said. "People usually keep secrets from their best-friends too, you know? 'Least, I assume so but I suppose I understand what you mean." Despite that Selena didn't have much contact with the outside world (nor did she have a best-friend), she knew that Riley had basically been trying to state that sometimes she just felt really close to Selena. Selena didn't have many friends; she only left the house whenever it was time to see Juliet and Rebecca at the diner. Additionally, she was home-schooled so she didn't know too many people that were her age. Regardless of that, she still knew what Riley had meant. "Furthermore, I don't doubt the fact that you often speak your mind without thinking of the consequences beforehand, but I am almost certain that you'll still keep a secret or two from me because we all have something we'd rather keep to ourselves. It is a part of being human." She picked up a tube of toothpaste.

        Riley hummed and she thought about Selena's  _final_  response for a bit. "Huh, you've got me there." She sighed. "Okay, so, I  _mostly_  speak about everything that revolves around me. You're also right about me being uncaring about what I say because consequences be damned. So what if I say something that I shouldn't say and start up more drama? It'd just fade away after a while and all would be well again, so no biggie. Also, I know I just said that I mostly talk about everything that happens around me about a minute ago but I merely said that for when I do gain a secret that I don't wanna tell anyone. Right now, I have no secrets. As far as I know, anyways." Riley turned away from Selena and began heading out of the bathroom. "I'll see ya in the kitchen when you're done." She walked out, strolling down the hallway a little before she headed down the staircase.

        After finishing up with brushing her teeth, Selena exited the bathroom after turning off the light and she closed the door gently behind her. She walked down the hallway and headed down the stairs, entering the first floor of her home. Upstairs, there had been only three rooms in total (Christi and Ryan's bedroom, the bathroom, and the bedroom the half-sisters shared) plus the large hallway. Downstairs, there was only the very large living room, the small kitchen, the medium-sized dining room, and the small wash room. Heading to her right after stepping off of the staircase, she walked straight to the dining room where Christi, Ryan, and Riley were; the three of them were sitting at the dining table with plates full of breakfast in front of them. A empty seat with a plate of bacon, eggs, and pancakes in front of it was located next to Ryan. Selena walked over to it, sitting down and beginning to dig into her favorite breakfast foods.

        "Morning, sweetheart," Ryan greeted happily, smiling at Selena before he took another bite out of the sausage on his fork. "Did you sleep well?" he asked her. When Rebecca and Selena showed up at his front door five years beforehand, he had been utterly amazed by the sudden occurrence. Additionally, he had known instantly that Selena was his daughter because she certainly couldn't had been anyone else. He didn't even hesitate for a second when Rebecca asked him if Selena could remain with him until things had cooled down with James; he hadn't bothered asking why, he just accepted the request because he wanted to be with his second daughter. When Selena eventually explained to him what had happened with James, he was furious that Rebecca had left her in potential danger and he became more pleased to have her safe with him indefinitely.

        "Good morning, Papa. I slept well. Thank you for asking me. I surely hope you managed to sleep just as well, too," Selena replied politely after she swallowed her food. "Do you plan on doing anything productive today?" she questioned him. She always asked him the same questions every morning, but Ryan never grew tired of them; he greatly enjoyed the fact that Selena had grown to be a very polite and gentle young lady, despite her having been mostly raised by Immortals that hated everyone but themselves (excluding Juliet). He supposed that he had Juliet to thank for Selena's positive personality because she was the only one in that horrid family who was kind-hearted, but that was merely an assumption since perhaps she had no influence on Selena's purity whatsoever.

        Ryan shook his head gently. "Not today. Christi and I are staying in. We deserve a little relaxation." He and Christi were either working often or they were out doing something for someone they knew. They never had gotten much time to relax and they certainly had no time to enjoy one another's company. Luckily, the two of them had caught a break that day and their very not-so-casual, very date-like attires said it all about what they were going to do during their lazy day at the house.

        "We'll probably watch a movie or nap all day," Christi commented, the lie quite obvious. Her response was so teenage-like that Ryan looked at her strangely. She stared back at him when she noticed. "What? It's true, Ryan. I don't care how weird it sounds when it comes out of my mouth." Strangely, Riley and Selena didn't seem to notice the lie or perhaps they were merely pretending they didn't notice it. Christi lifted her fork to her mouth, eating a piece of pancake. It was quite a miracle that she and Ryan had gotten married in the end, but it sure had been a tough road that they had went down together. When Ryan had returned from the Grant household after Selena's birth, he had discovered that Christi had left with Riley and she had left behind a note, allowing him to know where she was and granting him permission to come visit their daughter whenever he wanted but she stated that she was leaving him for good. However, after five years, she eventually forgave him for his mistake and they started dating again, eventually getting married when Riley turned twelve.

        "Yeah, sounds really nice, Mom," Riley remarked, uncaring. Her mind was on seeing Brian. She stuffed the rest of her food into her mouth and she stood up. She headed over to the kitchen, grabbing her car keys from a key holder on the far wall. She turned around and walked back over to the dining room, wanting to say bye to her parents before she left. She finally swallowed the food in her mouth before she started speaking. "You know, we really should relocate that thing; it's really weird to have our keys in the kitchen. Anyways." She approached her mother, giving her a kiss on the cheek and she approached her father afterwards, giving him a kiss on the cheek as well. "I'm heading out for the day. I'll be back before ten. Love you both lots. See ya tonight. Bye, lil' sis." With that quick goodbye having been said, she turned away from them and headed to the front door, opening it and walking out of the house, closing the door behind her as she went.

        Shortly after Riley had left the household, Selena was beginning to finish what was left of her breakfast when she noticed her father giving her a look. Knowing it all too well, she paused her eating. She swallowed the food that was left in her mouth and she began speaking to him. "She's going to Brian's house," she stated, giving her father the answer he was searching for. He probably had his suspicions about it beforehand, though. " _Again_ ," she added unnecessarily after a short pause. Riley was  _almost_  always heading over to Brian's house and it was only natural since the two of them were together. Other times, she was just heading out to get out since she never liked being stuck inside the house for too long.

        Ryan released a sigh, knowing greatly about Brian and Riley's relationship. He certainly had gotten an earful from Brian's ex-wife when she had arrived at their home unexpectedly about a year before. The woman had started cursing at him for having ' _a whore of a daughter_ '. Then, Riley had walked into the room, which caused the woman to curse at her instead and she nearly even started a cat-fight in their home. She only left the house when Selena somehow managed to calm her down in a very orderly manner, something that they all were grateful for because things could've ended sourly that day. "He's not a good man," he started, sharing his disapproval of the pairing. "It's only a matter of time before he pulls what he did to his ex-wife with Riley. I will not see that happen to one of my children." He didn't like Brian, not at all; sure, he himself had made a few mistakes as time went onward but he wasn't about to give Brian the benefit of the doubt.

        Christi reached over to him, placing her hand on his right shoulder. Ryan turned his gaze away from Selena, looking towards his wife instead. "He won't," she disagreed. "I've seen the way he looks at her. It's how you've always looked at me." She squeezed her husband's shoulder, smiling gently at him. "He loves her. I truly believe that he does. He wouldn't be stupid enough to pull something like that again," she told him. She had faith in Brian; she was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt because her own husband had made similar mistakes in the past. Furthermore, she approved of the relationship, but only because she herself had done similar things in the past, too, and she grew as a person because of them.

        Ryan gave her a look of great disagreement. "In case you aren't aware,  _I_  was stupid enough to pull that shit," he pointed out grumpily. "I wasn't too far from his age when it happened. Just you watch, he'll be making that same exact mistake once another girl comes along. I'm not proud to admit it, but us men are weak when it comes to seeing some nice looking ass. If it happens and if he ends up regretting it, I sure as hell won't let them get back together again because I think two chances is plenty." Brian's first chance was with his ex-wife and his second chance was with Riley. There wasn't about to be a third. Ryan was protective of both his daughters but he was the most overprotective of Riley because she was always out doing things while Selena was more of a loner, so to speak.

        Selena stood from her seat, picking up her empty plate. "Christi is correct, Papa. I, too, have seen the way in which he looks at her. He shall not be making that mistake again. I believe the two of them may be meant for one another because if Brian were to have made that mistake, he would've done so long ago. I am happy for them." She looked towards Christi, smiling. "The food was wonderful as always, Christi." She turned her attention towards her father and she leaned over, placing a kiss on his head. "I love you, Daddy. I'll be back later, before ten like Riley. I will be seeing Juliet and Mama at the diner." She knew that he was aware of the arrangement, but she liked stating her plans to him, just in case he were to worry. Before she headed into the kitchen, she picked up the glass of chocolate milk that had been made for her and she downed it in one go. After placing her glass and plate in the kitchen sink, she went back to the dining room and picked up Riley's half-empty, or half-full, glass of orange juice, additionally picking up Riley's plate. She took them into the kitchen and placed the unfinished drink into the refrigerator while placing the plate into the sink.

        "I love you, baby girl. Be careful out there," Ryan called to her, speaking loudly so that she could hear him. "You never know what could happen in this world." A drunk could hit her as she walked to the diner or something of the supernatural nature could attack her at random. Either way, he didn't want her to end up dead; no parent in the universe should outlive their own child. Selena deserved a long, happy life like everyone else; she deserved a happy ending, like the one he had managed to get.

        Selena re-approached the dining room, but she didn't reenter it. She smiled at her father. "Don't worry, Papa. I will be very cautious about my surroundings. Nothing is going to sneak up on me. If I must, I will use my powers carefully to protect myself and I will remain unseen by those who are normal." Her abilities had made an appearance when she was five and she had gladly told him of them when they finally reunited. Unlike Riley, she hadn't inherited their father's power of Pyrokinesis. However, she appeared to inherit most of her mother's power of Elemental-Kinesis, but unlike her mother, she could only control five different elements (Electricity, Energy, Ice, Metal, and Water) at a weakened state, whereas her mother could control, manipulate, and create more than seven various elements. Apart from that, she additionally had developed a power of her own and she was a strong user of it; the power was Telekinesis, the ability to move objects with her mind. Ryan didn't respond verbally to her, simply nodding his head. "See you soon," Selena told her father and Christi. Shortly afterwards, she turned away from them and she headed towards the front door, exiting the house and shutting the door behind her...

**~August 9th, 2003; Bailey, North Carolina~**

        _My Heart Will Go On_ by  _Celine Dion_ began to fill the living room, indicating the ending of a romantic tragedy named  _Titanic._  Sniffling softly at the right of the couch was Riley, the movie having gotten to her once again; she always cried after those types of movies ended, which was why she usually preferred to see them alone. She glanced towards her left as she felt fingers run through her hair gently and she smiled sheepishly at the handsome tanned man sitting there with her, tears still gently falling down her cheeks. Continuing to run his fingers through his young lover's hair, Brian's jade-green eyes stared upon her as he smiled back. In return, Riley reached forward and she ran her hand through Brian's messy, short brownish-black hair.

        "You need a haircut," she remarked softly, looking away from his gaze and up towards his hair that she continued to fondle. "Or maybe a better hairstyle because this is just ridiculous, darling." She ran her hand through his locks further, continuing to smile. Though she had tears staining her cheeks still, she made no move to wipe them away. She was okay with him seeing her like that. "Then again," she continued, "I wouldn't be able to run my fingers through your hair so easily if you were to cut it. Besides, I kinda like how wild it is."

        Brian chuckled, his own smile remaining. "It's only wild when I'm too lazy to look presentable. Which is most days." He chuckled more as Riley released a giggle at his words. He released his fingers from her hair, moving his hand to her cheek. After placing his other hand upon her face, he began wiping away her tears. Once he rid her of the watery substance, he removed his hands from her face and wrapped his right arm around her waist, pulling her closer to him. "Any particular reason why you chose for us to watch  _Titanic_?" he asked, laying a kiss upon her left cheek seconds later. He was surprisingly amused that out of all movies they could have watched together, she had chosen that one and he was curious as to why.

        Riley blushed a little bit and she shook her head. "No, not really. I just felt that it would be a good movie to watch together. Plus, it's definitely a great movie to cry to. It makes me feel human, being able to release something through my tears, you know?" She hadn't meant it in that way, however. She was human, that was true, but she wasn't like everyone else entirely. She had inherited the powers of not only her father but her mother as well and her manifestations of those powers were slightly different; while her mother could transform into various creatures, she could only transform into wolves and while her father could do just about anything with fire, she  _additionally_  could become one with her pure white flames or any flame for that matter (basically, fire couldn't harm her unless she allowed it to, unintentionally or intentionally). As she continued to stare at her older love, she felt tempted to reveal her darkest secret to him. However, she additionally felt fear towards what he would think of her if he were to learn about her true nature. Instead of telling him the true meaning of her words (that crying made her feel normal), she allowed him to make assumptions.

        Brian nodded shortly, incorrectly understanding her meaning. "Our deepest emotions can be overwhelming sometimes. You choose to release them through tears. I just let them go and don't allow them to bother me." Riley tilted her head as he looked away from her. His gaze turned towards the television that continued with showing the credits of the movie, the song still playing gently in the background. He kinda sounded like Selena a little bit with those words of his, which made Riley wonder if Selena's way of thinking had gotten into his head. "I'm curious," he commented after a moment, his attention turning back towards her. She stared at him questionably, waiting for him to continue. "What was your favorite scene?"

        Riley released a giggle. "Ummm, give me a second. I love the entire movie. Uh." She let out another giggle as she started thinking about which scene she loved the most. "I think that maybe the scene where Cal finds the nude drawing of Rose in the safe was my favorite moment. I loved that scene so much because she left a little note for him and basically, the whole thing is a  _fuck you_  to him but done in a slightly more polite manner. I mean, Jack could've stayed there and knocked Cal's bastard ass out but he, and Rose, chose a better method of things. Which was really awesome, in my opinion." She herself definitely would've chosen the latter over the former, however, because sometimes, violence was the answer to some emotional problems. Most would hit a pillow or scream at a tree, but Riley would just knock a bastard's, or bitch's, ass out.

        "That was a pretty decent moment," Brian admitted. "But I'd say my favorite scene was when those two finally jumped each other's bones." Of course that would be his favorite moment in the movie. He was the type of man that was easily pleased by sex scenes and sex in general. In fact, because of that being his favorite scene, he started thinking up an obvious idea of what the two of them could do next. He opened his mouth to speak of the idea, but Riley started laughing, turning her head away from him.

        "I'm sooo not surprised by that. Not even a little bit," she commented, shaking her head as she laughed more. "Oh, men. Always thinking with their downstairs head." She continued to laugh for a bit before she finally calmed down, shaking her head once more. "That was really cute, darling," she remarked. "How you phrased it," she clarified seconds later. "Jumping each other's bones. I need to use that phrase someday. That's pretty good." She looked back towards Brian, only to find him smirking at her. She raised her left eyebrow. "What is it? You're up to something and it's never a good thing whenever you're scheming."

        Brian leaned forwards, his face very close to her own. "How about we recreate my favorite scene?" he asked her suggestively. Because of the scene coming to mind, he couldn't stop himself from thinking about screwing his girlfriend's brains out and he was definitely hoping that she would allow him to do so. It wasn't like they never had sex before; they usually fucked like rabbits whenever they were alone together, most likely because they were very sexually active people. Additionally, it was always protected sex that they had because the both of them considered themselves too irresponsible to be able to care for a child correctly.

        "Okay, how?" Riley questioned him. "We're inside, sitting on a couch, and I don't feel like going outside, just to fuck inside your truck." She stared at him with an amused look; she should've known that he was thinking about that, considering what he stated his favorite scene was in  _Titanic_. They hadn't been talking about that topic period, not until the whole  _jumping each other's bones_  subject came up. She, however, wasn't even surprised that he suggested it because it was mainly what they always did anyways.  _Titanic_  was just an excuse for him to bring up the topic of sex.

        Brian leaned away from her a bit as he began to speak up again. "Well, firstly, a couch and a truck might as well be the same thing because both are small places to fuck," he started, causing Riley to let out another giggle as she shook her head at his response. "Secondly, I could carry you out to the truck, if I wanted to," he continued. He wrapped his free arm around her waist as he twisted his torso to face her completely. He turned Riley's torso towards him as his hands slowly dropped down to her hips. "Lastly, I was only referring to the sex, not the location because sex is good no matter where it's happening."

        Riley released yet another giggle as she smiled at her lover and she placed her hands onto his shoulders. "Wow, that sounds just as romantic," she remarked with sarcasm. Despite her sarcastic response, she was greatly turned on by his words. It didn't seem like it took very much for her to become aroused, that being because she had sexual relations with Brian so much that literally anything sexy he said would make her horny.

        Brian chuckled. "It's close enough." He leaned forward again and she leaned towards him in response. Their lips connected in a gentle kiss that lasted only a few seconds. However, a few gentle open-eyed pecks later, the love between them became more heated as they both finally closed their eyes, giving in to their growing lust. Brian roughly pushed Riley against the cotton arm of the couch as they continued to press their lips together in a heated passion that couldn't be sated.

        Riley's hands roamed down Brian's chest and the two pulled their lips apart momentarily, reopening their eyes to gaze at one another for a moment as Riley removed Brian's shirt from his torso in a hurried manner, revealing his broad chest to her. Removing Riley's shirt just as rushedly, Brian brushed his lips against Riley's again and he licked her lower lip, coaxing her to part her mouth and once she had, he eased his tongue into it. His tongue swirled around hers as he was pulled into a tighter embrace, his eyes finally closing again along with hers and he raised one of his hands from her hips, resting it upon her bra-covered breast. As their heated kiss continued, Riley removed her hands from Brian and she placed them onto the back of her bra, releasing the clippings of it. She, then, placed her hands on either side of her shoulders, pulling down her bra straps in a slow fashion.

        Feeling those movements, Brian pulled away from her lips and he removed his hand from her covered breast. He watched as Riley pulled her bra off completely and he continued staring as she tossed it aside. Wasting no time, his hand reclaimed its hold on her breast and he cupped it as he leaned forward, placing his mouth upon the hardened nipple of her opposite breast. Riley released a pleasant sigh as she felt Brian's tongue circle around her teat. She bit into her lower lip as she felt his hand massaging her breast, releasing a gasp suddenly when he pinched her unoccupied erect nipple. Suckling on the teat of the breast his lips were still attached to, Brian placed his free hand at the front of Riley's jeans and he struggled to get them unbuttoned. After a few additional seconds of attempting, he opted to remove his hand from her breast and with both hands, he was able to successfully unbutton, and unzip, her jeans.

        Brian moved his lips down Riley's chest, his tongue trailing down her abdomen. He slightly dipped his tongue into her navel for a short period of time as he slowly approached her covered lower half. Kissing just above the lining of her pants, he slowly began to pull her pants down her flawless, slim legs. When her pants reached her ankles seconds later, Riley helped him remove them from her person and she grinned as she watched him toss her jeans onto the floor. He slowly trailed his hands back up her legs and he gripped onto the rim of her panties. Soon, he was pulling them down her legs as well and he tossed them to the floor where the rest of her clothing laid.

        Riley moved her legs onto the couch fully as Brian stood up to remove his pants and underwear. She bit into her lip again as she stared at him, watching as he positioned himself in between her legs. Her cheeks flushed as she continued watching him, his head making its way towards her exposed womanhood. She released a small gasp as she felt his tongue run along her lower lips. She gently gripped onto the arm of the couch as she felt his fingers pull apart her lower lips and his tongue lapped at her wet entrance eagerly. A very pleasant shiver went down her spine as his tongue pushed slightly into her opening, her inner walls clenching around it instantly.

        As much as Brian was enjoying the taste of the juice dripping from Riley's wet pussy, he pulled his head away from her lower region. Kissing his way back up her body, he finally brushed his lips against hers once more. He placed his hands on both of her legs and he wrapped them around his hips as she wrapped her arms around his neck. Placing one of his hands on his hardened organ, he properly positioned it at the entrance of her womanhood and he thrusted his hips forward, entering his lover as they began to consummate their love and lust for another time.

        Heavy breathing ensued as Brian plunged into Riley at a slow rhythm. Gentle moans were released from Riley as she slightly arched her back, moving her hips upward to meet with her lover's slow but powerful thrusts. Brian let out soft groans as he buried his face into her neck, his tongue ever so lightly connecting with it. As time passed onward, his motions began to become faster and rougher, his groans and Riley's moans becoming louder. Wrapping his arms around Riley's waist, he lifted her up as he moved into a sitting position and he placed her onto his lap as he continued to shove himself into her vagina at a harsh pace.

        Brian's and Riley's lips reconnected in a much needed open-mouth kiss. His hands wandered along her breasts, sides, ass, and legs as he moved deeper into her. Her hands grabbed at his hair as they continued their kiss, sweat beginning to drop down their nude bodies. Their heavy moaning, groaning, and panting was filling the atmosphere of the room as they enjoyed being in one another's arms, both trying not to leave any body parts untouched as their hands roamed around.

        Riley began to lower herself onto Brian's cock as he continued to thrust up into her, the two of them meeting up with each other's movements. She pulled her lips away from his and she brushed them alongside his cheek to his neck, leaving gentle kisses as she did such. She gripped onto him tightly, her nails pinching into the flesh of his back as she felt him speed up. She moved her hips faster to keep up with his pace. Minutes afterwards, she began to convulse as she began feeling the sensation that indicated she was reaching her peak. Her nether walls tightened around Brian's dick as her legs began to tremble and twitch uncontrollably. As he continued thrusting into her various times in a rough manner, she froze up as she began to climax, her clenching cave bringing Brian to his end after he slammed into her opening three more times.

        Riley hummed as she felt Brian fill her with his essence. She wasn't bothered by the fact that they didn't use a condom because she was on birth control pills. She smiled to herself and she released a few soft moans as her lover thrusted into her a few additional times before he pulled out completely. He didn't change their position, however. Instead, he placed his lips against her forehead, giving her a little kiss there. He released a breathy chuckle as he panted, his body soaked in sweat from their recent activity. She smiled at him, letting out a few pants herself because she was a bit exhausted from their sexual intercourse. Beads of sweat dripped down the side of her head, but she made no move to wipe it away. No words were stated between them. No words were needed. The silence between them, the sex they just had, and the emotions they were showing were all that they needed...

**~August 9th, 2003; Raleigh, North Carolina~**

        Within  _Metro Diner_ , Selena was sitting at a booth with Juliet and Rebecca, the three of them located towards the back. It had taken Selena eighteen minutes to walk there and she had met the two of them inside the building. From there, the three family members had chattered for approximately six hours; Selena had arrived there around eight and by the time she had looked at the clock hanging within the diner, it had become two. Occasionally, their socializing would pause so that they could take care of private matters. As for their conversations, all they talked about was random matters that any normal person would speak of; the weather, what they did the day before, they spoke of anything interesting that they witnessed, talked of shows they had watched, etcetera and etcetera. Neither Juliet or Rebecca had changed much throughout the years, remaining just as they had been when Selena was born, and the only major difference was that Juliet had stopped her aging process as soon as she had turned nineteen; immortals always stopped aging at a random point, some stopping below eighteen and others stopping above fifty. The two immortals were dressed far too formally for a day at the diner, but neither of them cared.

        Right when the conversation of another topic died down, a thirty-five year old woman approached them. She was attired in the uniform of a waitress, a name tag resting above her left breast and it read  _Leslie_. She smiled kindly at the three women, her bright amber-brown eyes staring upon them. "What will you be having today?" she asked them as she held up a notepad, prepared to take their order. She knew of them well, having gotten use to seeing them there all day, every other day for five years straight. She twisted her slim figure slightly as she waited for their orders, lightly brushing her dark chestnut-brown hair from her face. In the beginning, she had been surprised that the three of them were almost always there but as time went on, she just decided to mind her own business and not question the actions of others. Although, she still wondered why the three often went there instead of going somewhere more expensive and fancy. By that point in time, the three family members had ordered everything on the menu  _twice_  but even so, Leslie always asked them what they wanted in particular for the day.

        Juliet answered her first, with a polite smile and a kind tone. "I'll have a Jumbo Chicken Pot Pie with a side of Onion Rings and I'd like to have a Pepsi as my beverage of choice." Despite that immortals didn't have to eat anything, they definitely had to act as if they needed to because of them being in public. While she wasn't a large fan of most beverages and foods, she always could enjoy the items that she had ordered; her favorite dish was Chicken Pot Pie because it was loaded with fresh baked chicken, lima beans, corn, carrots, peas, and French cut green beans, all topped with a homemade biscuit crust, and she merely just loved the taste of Pepsi products. "Thank you very much for your service at this fine diner, Leslie. This place would be nothing without you," she compliments, continuing to smile at the human serving them. Leslie uttered a thanks in response.

        Rebecca answered next, speaking boredly to Leslie because she didn't care for using manners towards mere humans. She considered them, the humans, to be beneath her. "Pastrami on Rye, Pasta Salad, and Hot Herbal Tea." She detested humans and gravely disliked being around them, but she was willing to admit that she enjoyed the foods that they could make. Everything in the diner's menu tasted absolutely astonishing to her, so she just chose three items at random. However, her main reason for not thinking over her choices was because she simply wanted Leslie to go away. She certainly would've taken a moment to think about it if a different species had been serving them.

        Finally, Selena answered with the same politeness that Juliet had shown Leslie, sending the female a gentle smile. "I would love to have the Meatloaf Plate, a side of French Fries, and Chocolate Milk," she said in a soft tone. The Meatloaf Plate consisted of multiple foods that Selena greatly enjoyed feasting on; meatloaf, mashed red-skinned potatoes with brown gravy, veggies, and a fresh baguette. Additionally, she always enjoyed the taste of the fries at that diner and she merely loved the taste of chocolate beverages above all other drinks because they were more satisfying to her. Furthermore, she was pleased to be what she was because it was far easier for  _her_  to pretend to be normal; she was an Immortal Human (least, that was what her mother often referred to her as), a being that just so happened to be part human and part immortal. Her being born as a half-bred enabled her to be able to eat, drink, sleep, and etcetera like all of the humans in their world, but it also gave her the ability to remain youthful, for as long as she lived because despite having some immortality, she was far easier to kill than her full immortal family members.

        Leslie nodded as she finished writing down the orders, dismissing the rudeness of Rebecca. "I'll return with your food shortly," she informed them before she turned and walked away with a smile remaining on her face. She hadn't been bothered by the older woman's impolite behavior because she had been working within that diner for seven years and she always had to deal with customers that were either very rude or very naughty.

        "Must you always be so impolite, Mother?" Selena questioned as she sighed. "Leslie has been nothing but kind to us for years. You could, at the very least, show some sort of decency towards her." She highly disapproved of her mother's actions towards anyone outside their family. Just because Rebecca wasn't like everyone surrounding them, it didn't mean that she was allowed to be such a grade-a douche nozzle.

        Rebecca ignored what her youngest daughter said and she began to share her dislike of being within the diner. "I've grown tired of this arrangement. I despise coming here where we're surrounded by weak and pathetic humans. I'd much rather have you meet us at the house where it can be just the three of us and James." In other words, she would rather risk her half-bred daughter's safety than be around humans that could do absolutely nothing to any of them. If Rebecca were to have her way, Selena definitely would be at risk of being seriously injured because despite that she had powers while James did not, she would never fight back because he was the father of Juliet and she additionally wasn't very fond of violence.

        Selena shook her head, disagreeing with the suggestion. "That will never be a safe possibility. The last time I was within that house, James tried to murder me. However, I will admit that one beautiful outcome occurred from it; I was allowed to finally meet my father and additionally, I met Riley, the half-sister that I hadn't previously known about. Furthermore, upon moving into their home, I learnt that Christi was not horrible like you claimed her to be. She's a kind woman and if you weren't so hateful towards humans, I believe you would like her." While Selena had lived in her original home, Rebecca had said very little about Ryan and Riley but she had often spoken ill of Christi.

        Rebecca dismissed Selena's words. "James was merely just getting use to having you around. He had been furious that day and he grabbed ahold of the first person he saw, and it just so happened to be you. If Juliet or myself had been there, he surely would've grabbed one of us instead." Excuses, excuses were all that flew from her mouth. "And I never mentioned Riley beforehand because I simply thought you'd become upset over the news. And Christi may not be as horrid as I've stated her to be but you must admit that she is, at least, a slut. Becoming pregnant at thirteen is common for young women that cannot keep their legs closed around striking men."

        Selena stared at Rebecca blankly, speaking as calmly as she could manage. As much as her mother's words enraged her, she wasn't about to respond with more negativity. Not exactly, anyways. "James had thirteen years to become use to my existence. He wasn't furious just on that day alone, he was enraged everyday by the littlest things I did. I evaded many of his attempts to release that rage upon me but eventually, he finally managed to get me. He nearly killed me, Mother. He would have succeeded in doing such if you hadn't arrived home earlier than he had expected." Rebecca remained silent because she had long forgotten that she hadn't been there when the incident happened. "And if you had informed me of Riley, I would have been just as overjoyed as I was when I finally learnt she existed. Lastly, Mother, Christi is not and never was a slut. Unfortunately for you, you can be considered such because of your open marriage with James. Therefore, you have no right to call another person by that horrid name when you are it yourself."

        Shortly after Selena had finished speaking, Leslie and another waitress arrived with their meals. As the two women placed each meal in front of the correct person, Juliet and Selena thanked them politely. After returning the thanks with welcomes, the two waitresses walked away with smiles on their lovely faces. As the three of them began to eat, Juliet finally started to speak. "Speaking of sex," she began, her eyes locked on Selena. "When are you ever gonna hit the sheets with somebody? You can't remain a virgin forever, sweet-pea. Sexual activities are fun as hell and it's marvelous. Well, it's more marvelous when you don't end up being knocked up as a result, no offense to Mother. Also, as much as I hate using protection all of the time, it's definitely worth it." She glanced at their mother. "Again, no offense, Mom, and thank you very much for bothering to create us with two different men. Slut's honor." For a very polite being, she had very vulgar language at times and she appeared very proud to call herself a slut. In some ways, she was just like her mother but that was simply in three ways; she had her mother's power over Air, she often slept around with various men, and she had her moments where she was impolite and informal but the latter only happened whenever she wished to be such.

        Selena chewed on a few fries as she stared at Juliet, watching her eat an onion ring. She swallowed her food and responded. "You are the very opposite of me. Both of you are." She placed another fry into her mouth and she ate it slowly before continuing. "I could never just sleep with random men. Additionally, if any of my words have harmed your feelings, I apologize greatly. I was not trying to speak ill of you in particular, I was only speaking ill of the relations you partake in." She ate another fry before she finished with what she was trying to say. "I do, however, long to find someone. I wish for that person to be my soulmate, someone I will always remain with. I want that person to be my first and last of everything. I hope I shall find him someday." Perhaps she would, preferably in that century and not the following one.

        "Love is blind, Lena," Juliet stated, calling Selena by a nickname. She ate what remained of her onion rings before she downed half of her beverage. Placing the glass back onto the table of the booth, she ate a little of her Pot Pie. Finally, she noticed that Selena was staring at her but with a confused expression. Juliet released a sigh after she swallowed her food. "What I mean by that is you'll be blind to love. Basically, no one ever knows right away who they will fall in love with. It'll be the same for you."

        Selena continued to appear confused and she openly stated her reasoning for being so bewildered. "That is not what  _love is blind_  means." Love is blind had the definition of Christi and Ryan's relationship; Christi was eventually willing to forgive and forget the mistake Ryan had made because she loved him deeply. She had been willing to forget how annoying he could be and how frustrated he could make her at times because she loved him deeply. That was a correct meaning for the phrase, love is blind. What Juliet had stated, that could potentially be a different definition for the phrase but Selena considered it to be incorrect, though the meaning itself did hold some truth.

        Juliet shrugged, aware of the fact that she was likely incorrect. "So? It's what it means to me. Can you let me eat now? Pot Pie is only delicious when it is still warm." She didn't wait for an answer as she started eating more of her food, visibly enjoying it a bit too much. Selena blinked and she mumbled an  _okay_ , even though she didn't need to. Selena picked up her glass of chocolate milk and she downed it in one go before she began digging into her main dish. While she (Selena) ate her food slower than she had drank her beverage, Juliet was halfway scarfing down her own food and Rebecca was already close to finishing hers. As Rebecca sipped her tea, she eyed Selena with narrowed eyes and she frowned as she placed her mug down onto the table...

**~August 9th, 2003; Raleigh, North Carolina~**

        Around nine forty-five at night, Selena had finally returned to her household and she was beginning to pace up the walkway. She had only taken about three steps when she suddenly heard a vehicle pull into the driveway and she glanced towards her right as she paused her walking, spotting Riley parking her beige 2002 Honda Accord. Selena remained where she was standing as Riley slowly removed herself from the car and Selena tilted her head curiously when she noticed Riley's wide smile in the dim lightness of the streetlight nearby. Something really wonderful must've occurred for her to have that sort of smile on her face.

        Riley closed the door of her car and she began walking towards Selena's location. As soon as she had reached her, Selena began to speak with her. "You have a very large smile on your face. Something rather grand must have happened recently. Would you like to tell me what it was?" She was very curious about what was making Riley happier than she had appeared that morning. She couldn't think of any reason for it on her own.

        Riley released a squeal as she wrapped her arms around Selena tightly. Caught completely off-guard, it took Selena a moment to finally hug her older half-sibling back. "He loves me, Selena! Brian loves me! He finally said it! He loves me back! I can't believe it!" She pulled her arms away from Selena and she continued on with smiling widely. "Isn't that just great?!" She had never loved someone before Brian, not another _man_ anyway, and she was extremely happy to know that he returned her love. She greatly hoped that the two of them would last for a little while, if not forever; she didn't want to be too hopeful about the future because the future was unknown to all.

        Selena blinked multiple times, processing the information, and she soon started to smile back at her older half-sister. “Wow, that is some rather grand news, indeed. I am very happy for you, Riley. I believe that it is possible the two of you were actually meant to be together, therefore he may be your soulmate.” She wanted nothing more than for her half-sibling to be happy with someone she loved deeply. Additionally, she hoped that Riley would get a happy ending, much like the one Christi and Ryan had eventually gotten, but she wasn’t entirely certain if that happy ending would involve Brian. She’d just have to wait and see. Furthermore, she hoped that she herself would eventually find that special someone, too, someday but she was unsure when that would occur because no one was certain of when or where they would meet their future love.

        “I think so,” Riley responded happily. “He means so much to me and ever since we’ve been together, he has done absolutely nothing harmful to our relationship. This is far beyond what he had with his last little romance, the one with that bitch, whats-her-face. I forgot her name again.” She tried to think of her lover’s ex wife’s name, but she couldn’t recall it, mostly because she didn’t care about remembering it. She waved her hand, literally waving it off as nothing of importance. “Eh, I’ll just call her Felicia,” she stated. That was far from the woman’s actual name, but it was whatever since Riley still didn’t give a shit about remembering her name. “The two of them had troubles nonstop before I finally showed up. They were doomed for divorce anyways, but my appearance made it officially occur.” She smirked to herself, crossing her arms as she gloated a bit. “That’s what happens when you marry shortly after you finish high school. If they had waited, maybe they would’ve lasted another year or two, but too bad for her and wonderful for me.” She started smiling again, her smirk fading away as quickly as it had appeared. “But there are no problems at all between him and I. We’re just far too compatible with each other for that to ever happen.”

        “I had not been aware of that previous information about Cordelia. I had assumed that they were perfectly happy together, up until the incident." Selena sighed shortly afterwards. "While it warms my heart that you weren’t entirely at fault for their divorce, I still wish you and Brian had not committed adultery.” She released a hum, thinking over Riley’s final words; she didn’t plan on addressing the rudeness Riley had temporarily displayed, mainly because she didn’t want to ruin the mostly pleasant vibe of their conversation. “I suppose I can agree with you about your compatibility, given that I have witnessed how you two act around one another. Your relationship with him is quite beautiful. I truly hope it lasts.” She looked up towards the sky, noting that it had become darker in color. “Can we continue this discussion indoors? Or was that all you wished to say about the matter?” she asked as she looked back towards Riley.

        “That’s all I wanted to tell you but yeah, we should definitely head inside now. I completely forgot that it was getting dark out.” She began heading up the walkway without uttering another word, smiling to herself. Occasionally, she’d let out a squeal of happiness; she couldn’t get over the fact that Brian had stated he loved her. Nothing could top that day off because it was, by far, the best day ever in her nineteen years of living. Although, perhaps Brian proposing to her someday would top that moment or maybe their future wedding would or maybe even them having their first child. She shook her head, pushing all of those thoughts out of her mind; it was far too early for her to be thinking of the commitment of marriage and the responsibility of parenthood.

        Selena followed behind Riley, moving at a decent pace. She was kinda curious about what Christi and their father would think about Riley’s news. Well, actually, she had a few ideas in mind to how they’d react; most certainly, their father would overreact in a negative way and Christi was bound to be pleased by the information. She could only imagine their reactions when she herself would finally return home with a love; perhaps they’d be pleased, perhaps not.

        What occurred next was something that neither of the half-siblings were expecting. For starters, the door wasn’t unlocked like it usually was, which rose some slight suspicions that were immediately tossed aside since Christi and Ryan were possibly just having too much alone time to bother unlocking the door around that time. Thankfully, Riley had a key to their home on her person and she was able to unlock the door herself. However, her happy mood was slightly demised because of the sudden difference in their lifestyle; she hadn’t been expecting for the door to still be locked since it normally wasn’t. Furthermore, Selena suddenly felt some anxiety as she became uncertain about whether or not she wanted to know why the door had remained locked. Riley opened the front door and the half-siblings stepped inside the household, both of them finally coming to the realization that their home was pitch black inside. Normally, it was the complete opposite upon their return home. Selena closed the door behind them as Riley reached for the nearby light switch. Soon enough, the living room became brightly lit and it held a sight that should’ve been left unseen.

        The carpet was heavily stained with blood, very small amounts of it appearing to have dried up. Lying near the bloodied floor covering was what _remained_ of Christi; she had been brutally mangled, the corpse lying on its back with blood covering most of what was left of the body and one of the legs was turned in an impossible way with its bone visible, the leg sticking upwards while the opposite one was located across the room, by the couch. Furthermore, its mouth was slightly parted, blood pooled inside it and it was dripping out from the sides, and its eyes were open-wide, dull in coloring due to lifelessness. Lying across the backside of the couch was the corpse of Ryan, it being just as covered in red fluids as the other corpse and it seemed mostly intact, apart from the lack of a head which was found sitting atop of the television stand somewhere behind the corpse.

        The reactions of the half-siblings varied, completely opposite of one another. Selena was in shock, staring at the crime scene with wide eyes. She didn’t move, didn’t speak, and didn’t scream; she didn’t do anything, except stare as various emotions filled her entire being. She never would have imagined that something like that would occur to them; she knew of the possibility, that was certain, but she never thought the chances of that were high because she believed all of them would be safe from anything unnatural. She had been rather wrong. Riley’s reaction was less of her being shocked and more so of her being angry, and upset, about it immediately. Tears were forming in her eyes as sorrow fully set in but her anger overshadowed that emotion.

        While Selena remained frozen where she stood, Riley slowly approached the corpses as a few angry tears slipped down her cheeks. She crouched down beside the corpse of her mother and she placed her hands to her face, shaking her head in disbelief. In a matter of seconds, her best day ever had turned into the worst day of her life. Her loving parents were gone forever and she had absolutely no clue who it was that had took them from her so suddenly. When she sniffled, her nose wrinkled up as she caught the scent of something horrible and that was when she noticed the yellow dust that was sprinkled across the bloody carpet. She reached over and picked up a few grains, looking at it closely. Realization crossed her face and she clenched her fist tightly; a demon had been there.

        Selena started coming out of her shock. She blinked various times and she noticed that Riley was crouching beside one of the corpses. The reality of the situation began to settle in and she wrapped her arms around herself as she started to feel like she would start to cry. As she inhaled deeply through her nasals, she caught whiff of a rotten egg smell and quickly, she came to the same realization as Riley had. She didn’t say anything at all, shaking her head frantically as she started to feel out of place, feeling great denial. She didn’t want to believe it was all actually happening, that Christi and her father were dead. When the scene didn’t vanish from her eyes when she tried to blink it away, the denial began to diminish slowly as she placed herself against the nearby wall, no longer trusting herself to be able to continue standing on her own as she finally started releasing her tears.

        Riley removed herself from her crouching position and she turned towards Selena, tears streaming continuously down her cheeks. Within her eyes, pure hatred was burning deep. “I know who did this,” she stated with her teeth gritted together, her fist still clenched. Any other demon would had merely possessed them before wreaking havoc upon all members of the household, but what this demon did, it had been for personal reasons. In the past, there was only one demon that had sworn vengeance against them personally during their exorcism; that very demon liked to call herself Mara…

**~August 10th, 2001; Bailey, North Carolina~**

        _America Woman_ by _The Guess Who_ was playing loudly within the bedroom of a seventeen-year-old named Emily Swan. She was lying on her bed, leaning against the headboard as she watched her girlfriend, Riley, dance around to the song. She released a loud laugh as Riley began lip syncing to the song and she (Emily) shook her head gently, her long and straight dark auburn-brown hair swaying slightly. She reached up and brushed her hair aside, her short bangs coming at rest just above her left hazel eye. She was attired in a white blouse, skinny blue jeans, and short beige furry boots that fit her petite figure well and it drew attention away from her extremely fair skin. As Emily watched, Riley giggled as she finally stopped her fun, throwing her arms up in the air as she placed her hands on her head, her fingers curling up in the short tresses of her back-swept hairstyle. Also, she was dressed in a gray tanktop, a black jacket, navy-blue jeans, and short beige boots; she had somewhat wanted to match up her style with Emily’s.

        “Awww, why did you stop?” Emily asked, smiling at Riley as she complained lightheartedly. “I was really enjoying the show you were putting on for me.” Watching her lover be a complete goofball was one of her favorite things to witness. Also, it was a bit of a turn-on for her, but she wouldn’t be telling her woman that, not right away anyways.

        Riley smiled as she walked towards the bed, jumping onto it gleefully and she landed on her stomach, lying to Emily’s left. “Sorry, but I got tired.” She quickly sat up and leaned towards her lover, giving Emily a kiss on the cheek. “I’ll dance for you again later on. Maybe in a far more pleasurable way,” she suggested, hinting at a possible future lap dance. “But I need some time to relax because I was dancing for,” she looked towards the dresser to glance at the alarm clock setting, “Wow, I danced for about three hours. That’s a new record for me.” She released a laugh. “I really can’t believe I lasted that long. I usually collapse after ten minutes, thirty minutes tops.”

        “Well, you’ve had plenty of practice with maintaining your energy,” Emily remarked, referring to the sexual relations that the two of them occasionally had. “Soon enough, you’ll last about four hours and so on. Maybe then, you’ll be about as athletic as your weird sister.” Well, Selena wasn’t exactly athletic; it was more like she was occasionally energetic, making her able to last through some things longer without tiring out quickly but it might as well be the same as being athletic. Emily had met her a few times when she went over to their home and though the two of them rarely interacted with one another, the little words spoken between them had made it clear to Emily that Selena had something odd about her, personality and all. “Speaking of your sister, I don’t think she likes me very much,” she told Riley. “She hardly says more than five words to me.”

        Riley frowned, shaking her head. “She doesn’t dislike you. She’s just very distant towards most people. Just try to be patient with her. I’m sure she’ll warm up to you eventually. Maybe you should start coming over to my place more often. That might help out a little.” She avoided revealing one single detail, though; Riley had been told, by Selena herself, that Emily made her feel uneasy and also, Riley had been warned to be careful around Emily. The talk between the half-sisters had occurred three weeks prior and altogether, Riley had been dating Emily for three months. She wasn’t sure why Selena felt such a way towards Emily, but it was probably nothing.

        Emily sighed. “If you say so, darling.” She smiled a little as she leaned forward, grabbing Riley’s hands and pulling her closer. She planted a quick kiss on Riley’s nose. “Mine. All mine.” Riley began to smile and giggle as Emily started kissing her neck. Emily moved her hands from Riley’s and she placed them on her sides, gripping the rim of Riley’s shirt. She was prepared to lift it up, but Riley pushed her hands away with giggles still escaping her lips.

        “Would you quit it?” Riley grinned as she continued giggling. She held Emily’s hands and leaned away from her, making the neck kissing come to an end. “None of that. Not right now, anyways. I already told you that I’m exhausted from all of the dancing.” She didn’t want to have a make-out session or even have some sort of sexual intercourse with her lover, not right that moment. All she was wishing for was relaxation as she rested up. “We can do that later on, too, after that lap dance I mentioned. But just let me rest for now, okay?”

        Emily pouted and whined. “But it’s been too long since the last time, honeybun. I want to do this now.” She leaned forward again, trying to capture Riley’s lips with her own in an attempt to make her change her mind. However, Riley evaded the movement with a smirk. Emily began to grow impatient and nearly released a growl as she reached towards Riley. However, she paused her movement before her hands could be laid upon Riley. She dropped her hands onto the bed, keeping them away from her lover. “Okay. Fine. I’m sorry for trying to push you into it.”

        Riley rolled her eyes, but she nodded. “You know, you’re acting like I said we’d never have sex again. I only stated that you need to wait a while. Sheesh.” She poked Emily’s nose. “You’re so impatient today,” she teased. “But it’s kinda cute in a slightly annoying way.” She frowned when Emily suddenly turned away from her and she watched as her love removed herself from the bed to stand up. “What’s wrong, Em?” she asked when Emily started to pace back and forth in front of her. “Was it something I said?” Was Emily annoyed with her because she didn’t want to fuck right that moment?

        Emily shook her head as she paced. “No, it wasn’t anything you did, hun. It’s just me.” She had gone from happy and horny to impatiently horny, and finally to anxiously frustrated, all in a matter of moments. She could’ve done something horrible to Riley if she hadn’t stopped herself in time. She really needed to tell her girlfriend something vital before it was too late to do it herself. She just wasn’t sure how to say it without causing fright or anger; she wasn’t sure where to start to make the news far less overwhelming. She knew one thing for certain; she needed to tell Riley in that moment because sooner or later, she’d likely fuck up. “We’ve been together for a while now, you know? A good three months, just about.” She smiled sheepishly to herself. “Best months of my entire existence.” She stopped her pacing and she faced the bed, looking right at Riley. “I love you very much and nothing has changed that. Nothing could ever change that.”

        “Em, you’re scaring the shit outta me.” Riley stood up and approached her, crossing her arms as she started to grow more concerned and worried. “There’s something bothering you, isn’t there?” she asked. “That’s why you wanted to have sex, isn’t it? To get your mind off it, the thing that’s troubling you right now?” That was far from the reason why Emily had wanted to fuck; she had merely been horny. Her real reason for her behavior was because of the actions she nearly committed out of impatience. Emily remained silent and she looked down at her feet, unsure of what to say still. “Whatever it is, you can tell me. I’m here for you. I’ll always be here for you, babe. Always and forever.”

        “I’ve…” Emily stopped, not sure how to continue the sentence she started. “...I don’t…” She sighed as she looked at Riley again. “Look, there’s just something that I really need to tell you and I need to say it now or things won’t be pretty when you learn the hard way and I know that you’ll eventually learn about it the hard way because that’s just something that tends to happen anyways.” Realizing she was kinda rambling on, she gulped and took a deep breath to calm her nerves a bit. She held her hand out towards Riley, but she wasn’t actually reaching out _for_ her, rather she was warning her to stay put. “You have to promise that you won’t run off when I tell you.”

        Riley’s concern and worry faded into immediate confusion. “Why would I run away?” She scoffed as anger suddenly set in; she was tired of waiting around for an explanation. “Emily, baby, whatever it is that you’ve got going on, it isn’t gonna chase me off. Now, just tell me what the hell is bothering you before I just start assuming the worst, like an affair or one-night stand.” She gestured for Emily to proceed with talking. “So, go ahead. Give me your worse. I’m heading fucking nowhere. That’s a damn promise.”

        Emily stared at her, a serious expression on her face. “...I’m not really Emily Swan,” she revealed. Riley’s anger turned back into confusion and she opened her mouth to respond, but Emily continued speaking. “Well, I’m using her body, but I’m not actually her.” The cat was finally out of the bag; the being had revealed herself to her human lover after three months. Riley just stared at her, not saying a word as her facial expression went completely blank. “I’m a Succubus,” she finished, revealing her demon status.

        Riley stared at her for a few seconds before she released a humorless laugh. "Ha. Yeah, sure you are and I'm the Greek Goddess of War, Athena." She shook her head slightly and uncrossed her arms. "A Succubus only goes after men sexually, genius. Now, just fucking tell me what your problem is. Quit..." Her eyes widened with surprise as her lover revealed her pitch black eyes for a short moment. Soon, those darkened irises faded back into the natural eye color of Emily, the true owner of the body. "...Quit playing...around..." she continued in a very quiet tone. "...Oh my God..." She had been dating a possessed woman that entire time and she was mortified. Her parents had warned her many times about demons, but she had thought very little of their guidance because she hadn't thought that anything would happen. She had even dismissed Selena's warning and she (Selena) had unknowingly known that something was amiss with the possessed Emily.

       Mara, the demon possessing Emily, raised her hands up. "I've never meant to bring harm to you, I swear. I only wish to explain everything." Riley started shaking her head as the demoness began explaining quickly. "My name is Amaryllis, but I prefer to be called Mara. I possessed this body approximately two months ago, hoping to find interesting men that I could steal testosterone from. That's why I was walking the streets on the night we met; I was searching for a decent meal. However, you came along and you offered me a ride, one that I refused. You did something I hadn't expected; you stopped your vehicle, got out of it, and started walking alongside me. Because of my possession of Emily, I knew enough knowledge about this planet's lifestyle that I couldn't possibly become out of place while we spoke. And... And during that short time, I started to feel something I never felt before and you were causing those new emotions." Riley shook her head more frantically as she backed away from Mara, almost running into the bed in the process. "It's true!" Emily exclaimed. "And after you were sure that I was safe here at Emily's home, I felt that I needed to see you again and I did. I ended up falling in love with you. After a few weeks, we finally became lovers. So, long story short, I'm a sorry excuse for a Succubus but I don't give a shit. I found a better way to collect the testosterone I need to survive without being unfaithful to our love. Nothing else matters anymore because I have you and you're everything to me."

        When the demoness stepped towards Riley, the human in question took another step away from her. "Stay the fuck away from me!" She couldn't attack the demon because then, she'd be hurting the real Emily too. "Stop lying! Just stop it! Haven't you tortured me enough?! You used me for your own pleasures! You used me as some sort of experiment!" She backed up more until she was against the wall, glaring at the demoness as she trembled in fear and anger. She should had listened to Selena's warning when she had the chance. She was completely helpless in that moment because she didn't know how to preform an exorcism and she couldn't do anything at all to Mara since that would cause harm to Emily. All she could really do was haul ass but even then, she felt like she'd be screwed with that, too.

        Mara shook her head as she slowly approached Riley, trying not to scare her further. "No, I didn't use you," she declared. "My love for you is true, can't you see that? You make me feel humane, make me have these emotions that I never could've felt if I hadn't met you. I swear that I was never trying to trick, hurt, or experiment on you. I only wished to have your love in return and I still want that." Her tone softened as she stared at her human lover. "Don't you still love me? I've told you everything that you needed to know. We have no secrets between us anymore. I could help you become just like me, if you want, and we'll be together forever." She reached towards Riley. "Don't you want that?" As she attempted to touch Riley's cheek, the magical human being took a chance and she pushed the demoness away from her with all of her strength. Mara fell over, landing on the floor roughly because she hadn't expected that reaction. Riley quickly turned towards the nearby door and she opened it, running out of the bedroom as she hoped that the demoness wouldn't catch her; she got away without a hitch.

        The demoness slowly sat up from the floor, remaining in her bedroom as she clenched her fists. Disbelief and rage began to fill her being. She was aware that it wasn't Riley's fault; her lover was just misguided. Riley's family had filled her head with lies about how horrible demons were and that wasn't true. She'd see the truth, eventually, and when she did, she'd come to realize that the two of them were meant to be together forever. All the demoness had to do to ensure that result was to get rid of Riley's family. After that, there would be nothing blocking out their love...

**~August 9th, 2003; Raleigh, North Carolina~**

       Riley removed herself from her crouching position and she turned towards Selena, tears streaming continuously down her cheeks. Within her eyes, pure hatred was burning deep. "I know who did this," she stated with her teeth gritted together, her fist still clenched. Any other demon would had merely possessed them before wreaking havoc upon all members of the household, but what this demon did, it had been for personal reasons. In the past, there was only one demon that had sworn vengeance against them personally during their exorcism; that very demon liked to call herself Mara.

        Selena, staring at her older half-sister with widened eyes, wiped away her tears that had drenched her rosy cheeks. She slowly began to shake her head, automatically knowing whom Riley was referring to. She didn't believe that it was Mara, but additionally, she didn't want to rule out the possibility of it having been her. Her voice crackled as she spoke, stating her thoughts perfectly. "We cannot just assume that it was her. It could have been any demon in the universe." She was disliking the fire in Riley's eyes, the fist that she had clenched, and the way her teeth were gritted together; Riley looked like she was ready to fight to the death.

        Shaking her head, Riley approached her younger half-sibling. "No, it's her, Selena. I know that it is," she insisted with a wolfish growl. "No other demon would have caused this. They would've waited for us before they started their trouble." She gestured towards the corpses of her parents that were lying behind her. "This isn't a possession gone horribly wrong. This is the vengeance of a Succubus and her name is Amaryllis." She was entirely sure that Mara had been behind the murder. She just needed Selena to be completely aboard with the need to get their own revenge.

        Speaking intelligently about their situation at hand, Selena kept her eyes on Riley as she avoided looking towards the bloodied corpses. She feared that she'd burst into tears again if she took another glimpse at her deceased family members. "How can you be certain about that, Riley? It has been nearly two years since we've last seen her. I believe that it usually takes a long while for them to return from Hell. I mean, I can only imagine their living arrangements down there. If it's as horrid as I'm thinking, I am not all that surprised that demons want to walk amongst our kind." She wrapped her arms around herself once again, rubbing her arms gently. "I really believe that you should think about this. I do not want you to rush through things because you could get hurt in the process. Perhaps we should do some research, look and see if there has been anyone else that had been targeted before we do anything rash." She was trying to keep a cool head about everything, not wishing to get reckless despite the previous occurrence. If they went about everything the wrong way, they'd likely end up like Christi and Ryan.

        Riley refused to listen to reason. "I know exactly what's happening here, Selena!" she yelled. "That bitch, Amaryllis, jumped outta Hell again and she killed our family in cold blood! She's out to get us for what we did to her and she's not gonna stop until her vengeance is complete!" Her eyes widened suddenly as a horrible thought crossed her mind. "And I know exactly who she'll attack next!" She sprinted past Selena, pushing her as she went to the front door. She opened it hurriedly and she ran out, running towards her vehicle. Quickly getting inside it, she started it up and she backed out of the driveway, heading away from there and towards the place she had left earlier; her boyfriend's home...

**~August 10th, 2001; Raleigh, North Carolina~**

       In the darkness of nighttime, Mara approached the household of the Piers family with a smile upon her face. She had gotten an unexpected call from Riley; her lover wanted to speak with her. The demoness had rushed there as quickly as possible without a second thought, driving there instead of using teleportation since she was a low-leveled demon. She felt very hopeful about her future; she believed that Riley had thought things over and had decided that she really did want to be with her forever. She honestly did believe that Riley was giving her a chance to prove herself worthy of their love. Mara stepped forward and she knocked the front door open with her strength, ignoring that she could've just opened it normally. She stepped into the living room and she smiled more upon spotting Riley, who was standing behind the couch for some reason unknown to her. The only light source inside the room was the lamp, which was located beside the couch. She took a few steps forward, still smiling. "Have you finally made your decision, lovebug?" she asked Riley. "Have you chosen to be mine forever?" She took another step forward, entirely unaware of the Pentagram Devil's Trap that was drawn on the ceiling. She was only two steps away from entering it.

        "Yes," Riley answered. She falsely smiled at Mara, hoping that she'd urge the demoness to move forward a little more. She needed to save the real Emily, if the real Emily was even still alive. "I want to be with you, Mara. I shouldn't had reacted the way that I did earlier. I was just so surprised by the information and I thought that you were gonna kill me; I thought that you were through with me. I also thought that you had been using me, but you were only showing your love by telling me everything before someone else did. Thank you so much for doing that for me." She reached forward, her palm out as if ready to take Mara's hand. "I don't care what my family thinks. Make me a Succubus like you and we'll be together forever. I love you so much, darling. Come here."

        Mara nearly started sprinting as she began moving towards Riley, but unfortunately for her, she wasn't gonna reach her love. The smile on her face vanished immediately when she couldn't get any closer to Riley, an invisible wall blocking her path. Confused by the occurrence, she looked around the room and soon, she spotted the Devil's Trap that had been drawn on the ceiling. Her feelings of love and happiness turned entirely to hatred and rage. She released a piercing scream, all glass within the room shattering. "How could you do this to me?! Why would you betray me like this?! Why?!" She glared at Riley, wishing for her to die an agonizing death. "How could you do this to me, after everything we've been through?! I loved you!"

        "Demons aren't capable of feeling love or anything for that matter," Riley replied heartlessly, smirking as she stepped around the couch. She avoided going near the Devil's Trap, just in case she were to accidentally step inside it; Mara would surely cause her great physical harm if that happened. "I wasn't about to fall for your tricks. Again. I told my parents and my little sister about you. While Mom and Dad fixed up that trap, Selena went searching for an exorcism chant that would work on you." As Riley stepped towards the front door with Mara's eyes following her every movement, Selena appeared out of the shadows with a paper in her hand; she had been waiting in the wings, ready to take action. "Any last words before Selena sends you back to Hell where you belong?"

        "You'll pay for this! All of you pathetic humans!" Mara yelled in grand anger. "You, your little sister, your parents, anyone you've ever come in contact with! I will destroy you all! Do you hear me?! I will end your lives myself when I come back! You'll see! You'll regret this day!" She was extremely pissed off; she was mad that she allowed herself to be tricked so easily, she was mad that she had been stupid and weak enough to fall in love with some human that was about to send her back to Hell, and she was mad that she had stopped herself from harming Riley earlier that day. She was gonna get her revenge someday. She had enough motivation to get outta Hell again.

        "Yeah, yeah," Riley replied, rolling her eyes. "You should've done all that, but instead, you decided to play your game of fucking a female." She nodded to Selena. "Go ahead, Selena. Send this bitch back to Hell already." No more time needed to be wasted; they needed to end it. They needed to finish it so that they could return to their average lives and so that they could see if Emily was still alive or not. If the girl was fortunate enough to have her soul still intact, the half-sisters and their family would help her cope with what happened. Selena looked down at the paper in her hand and she began to speak in Latin. Mara started to grunt and her body twisted around as the foreign words affected her. As Selena continued the chant, she ignored every curse and threat that was thrown at her by the demoness. When she finally finished the incantation, she glanced up to see black smoke escaping from Emily's mouth at a rapid speed, the substance disappearing into the floor. Emily collapsed within the Devil's Trap, temporarily motionless when she hit the floor. Selena dropped the paper and she ran over to Emily, sitting on her knees beside the fallen woman. She lifted her up gently and as she did such, Emily suddenly released a gasp and she latched herself to Selena, holding onto her for dear life as she immediately started crying, whispering thanks constantly to the half-siblings...

**~August 9th, 2003; Bailey, North Carolina~**

        Riley parked her vehicle into the driveway of her lover's household and she quickly removed herself from it. She felt a bit bad about leaving Selena behind at the crime scene, but she needed to know if Brian was alright; if he was deceased, she was gonna find a way to kill Mara someday since she'd likely return from Hell again if they sent her back there and if he was still alive, she was gonna mentally jump with joy and she was gonna protect him until the bitch was gone for good. She sprinted up the steps of the front porch, almost tripping, and she frantically knocked on the door, praying that Brian would answer. When he eventually did, he stared at her with confusion written across his expression. Internally screaming in happiness after discovering her love was okay, she immediately wrapped her arms around him as she started crying. Without uttering a single word, Brian hugged Riley back and he pulled her inside his house, shutting the door behind her. He took her to the living room and they both sat down on the couch. He continued remaining silent, allowing Riley to sob into his shirt. He didn't know why she was crying, but he'd ask her about it when she wasn't drowning herself in tears; he didn't want to make matters worse for her. He rubbed her back and rested his head atop hers, frowning; whatever it was that had her sobbing, he didn't like it.

        Three hours passed by in a seemingly slow pace. Riley had eventually stopped crying during the first passing hour and she slept through the hours that followed. Brian didn't leave her side, continuing to hold her tightly against him the entire time. He did, however, release her from his arms when he heard knocking on his front door again. After lying Riley down gently, he headed to the door and opened it, coming face-to-face with Selena. Upon seeing that her eyes were as red as Riley's had been, he stepped aside and allowed her in without any explanation needed; from seeing that both of the half-siblings were upset over something, he could only assume the worst and he didn't want to mention anything about it until either of them were ready to speak of it. Selena entered the household when allowed, but she didn't wander off. She paused her walking and she turned to face Brian, watching him close the door. He jumped slightly in startlement when he turned around and saw her standing there; he thought that she had went into the living room to be with Riley, but he had thought wrong. "Something bad has occurred," she revealed to him, speaking softly. She sniffed. "I had attempted to walk here, but that was taking far too long. I had to hitchhike with a stranger, but luckily for me, she was without impure intentions." She sniffled again. "I felt that Riley would come here after she took off from home. I assume that she is either located in your bedroom or in your living room."

        Brian gave her a look. "You... You tried to walk here? From your house?" he questioned. He was confused by that. Why would anyone in their right mind try to walk thousands of miles to get from point a to point b? It was both dangerous and incredibly stupid, not to mention that it was approximately a ten hour walk. Selena nodded without a care in the world about it. He blinked, staring at her for a few seconds before he shook his head. "Nevermind." Although he had planned on waiting for the half-sisters to be ready to explain the situation, he asked about it. "What happened? Riley was crying for nearly a hour before she fell asleep and you seem to have been crying, too."

        "Our parental figures have passed on to the next world," she revealed to him without much fault. "They left approximately three-to-four hours before Riley and I returned home. They did not pass on peacefully, unfortunately." Brian's eyes widened as he listened further. "I have already informed the Raleigh police of what happened and I left shortly after being questioned, as they took the bodies away. I believe that the person who murdered our family is coming after Riley and I. Additionally, I believe that the person doesn't know about you, therefore this place is a safe haven for us at the moment." She sniffled once more. "Is that all you wished to know about?" She wasn't entirely being truthful about the situation; she had carried the corpses outside of the house, one by one, and she burned them before she left the household without contacting the authorities.

        "How in the hell can you be so calm when there's a fucking murderer after you and Riley?" Brian asked a bit roughly. "I would've thought that you'd be freaking out, just like any sane person would." He was confused and apparently slightly frustrated with her behavior. She appeared to be unafraid, cool and collect. She looked sad, yet focused. He, on the other hand, was on the verge of freaking out his damn self, even though he was unlikely to become a victim.  _Or so he thought_. He also felt angry because neither of the half-sisters deserved such sorrow. He threw his hands to his face and he tried to place his thoughts together. That and he was trying to calm his emotions. "Are you completely sure that we'll be safe here? Maybe you should call the police again and ask for someone to be parked outside, just in case things go south for the winter." He was getting a little anxious about the situation. He, also, hated how he had gotten involved involuntarily but he couldn't change that and he would've ended up involved anyway.

        "It is best to stay calm during these sorts of situations, so that thoughts can be in order. Additionally, I am not like everyone else. Furthermore, try to relax. Don't let this situation cause you stress. It is all under control, I promise. We do not need extra protection," she answered him. He stared at her, confused by the last words she had stated. She turned away from him and walked away, heading towards the living room. She had been inside of his home on various occasions that past year, all because she had felt that she needed to know of his house's location and she had secretly hidden various Devil Traps in all of the rooms, just in case. She was gonna need some salt, however, because the house needed to be protected from demons. Well, from  _a_  demon.

        Riley was sitting up on the couch as Selena entered the living room, Brian walking a little ways behind her. He paused momentarily while Selena continued heading towards her older half-sibling. Riley stood up from the couch and rubbed her arm. "Hey," she greeted gently. "Sorry for leaving you back there. I wasn't thinking clearly," she apologized. Selena nodded shortly and she leaned forward, whispering something into Riley's ear; she was telling Riley to keep Brian busy while she placed salt around the house. "...Okay," she answered. She watched as her little half-sister walked away from her, heading towards the kitchen. She looked towards her lover, half-smiling at him. "Hey," she whispered in greeting.

        Brian cracked a grin. "Hey," he greeted back. "I, uh, I heard about what happened to your parents." He slowly approached her and he placed his hands on her shoulders. "I'm sorry for your loss, sweetie." She nodded slightly, her eyes becoming watery again. He kissed her forehead. "This'll be over soon," he reassured her. "The bastard that did it, he'll get caught soon and until then, I won't allow anyone to hurt you. That's a promise." His love didn't say anything in response and she avoided making eye contact with him again. He sighed and moved away from her, approaching a nearby desk. He opened up one of the drawers. "I meant to give you something earlier today, but I forgot because of, uh, all the sex and stuff."

      Riley smiled a little as she looked towards him. "Oh?" She walked over to where he stood and he turned towards her, holding up his clenched fist. With his free hand, he made Riley hold out hers and he placed his clenched fist over it, soon dropping something onto her open palm. She stared at it, releasing a small laugh of happiness as she held up the beautiful gift; it was a silver necklace, shaped like a literal heart. "It's really lovely, Brian." She smiled up at him, forgetting about her troubles temporarily. "You're not gonna say something cheesy, are you? Like ' _now, you can carry my heart around with you'_  or ' _you've captured my heart'_?"

        Brian rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, actually I was," he admitted. "But your suggestions sound much better than what I had in mind. Mine was a bit... It was really bad." Riley raised her eyebrow and he continued. "I was gonna say that you make my heart stop beating."

        "Jeez," Riley laughed out, her mood slightly more positive than before. "That's really bad, yeah. Like majorly bad," she agreed with a smile. "But thank you. I love it." She held it up to her neck, but didn't put it on. "Can you help me put it on?" she asked. Brian nodded and gestured for her to turn around. She did such and he quickly fastened the chain around her neck. "This is probably the best gift I've ever gotten from someone, apart from this ring." She released her hand with the ring as she turned back to face him again. "Selena gave it to me that first year she stayed with my family. I didn't particularly like her at the time and I wasn't exactly nice to her, but she still gave me something for my birthday. After that, I thought differently of her." She bit her lower lip and quickly decided to continue rambling about the past; she couldn't think of another way to distract Brian, apart from sex but she didn't want to do that while her little sister was in the house with them, and she wanted to keep her mind off of what had happened. However, the latter was unlikely since she was bound to mention her deceased parents some more. "I've never told anyone this, apart from Selena, but for the longest time, I had hated her because she had nearly ruined the epic romance between..." She paused, her eyes watering up again. She rubbed them quickly. "...Between my parents by being the product of lust." She frowned as she recalled some harsh words she had shared with Selena. "I had told her various times that she was a mistake and that she shouldn't have ever existed. I wanted to hurt her feelings so badly, but she never seemed to care about it; she would just say the same thing over and over again, so sure of herself."

        Brian was frowning, disliking the information, but he knew that Riley had learnt from her mistake because she and Selena were really close, from what he could tell. "What would she say to you?" he asked. While he was really hating all of the information he was learning about Riley's past with Selena, he was glad that she was able to share that sort of thing with him. Previously, all he had really known about their history was Selena being her half-sister. He hadn't known that they hadn't been on good terms at one point; with how Selena was, he had assumed that they had always gotten along well.

        Riley inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly before she spoke again. "She... She would say ' _It's okay because you'll love me eventually._ ' Sometimes, that response of hers didn't make sense to me. I did eventually grow to love her, though, and when that happened, I finally managed to figure out what she had meant. That was her way of basically telling me that she was forgiving me for my behavior." She let out a loud breath. "I officially knew, in that moment, that Selena was a very bright, honest, kind, and pure person. She still is. She's also very unique and she's still slightly out of touch with the world." Her eyes started getting watery again. "I can't lose her like I lost my parents tonight. Apart from you, she's all I have left."

        "I'm not going anywhere," Brian told her as he pulled her into his arms. "Neither is Selena. Nothing's gonna happen to either of us." He began to walk backwards towards the couch, with her still within his arms, and he sat down on it, pulling her onto his lap and he rubbed her back like he had earlier. "Get some more rest," he whispered into her ear. "I won't let anything happen to you." Despite that she needed to keep him busy, she ended up falling asleep on his lap. Fortunately, Selena had been quick and thorough because the house was completely safe from Mara's next strike...

**~August 10th, 2003; Bailey, North Carolina~**

        Riley groaned as she awakened from her slumber, slowly opening her eyes. She glanced around at her surroundings as she sat up on the couch. She was still inside of Brian's house and the last thing she could recall was falling asleep on her lover's lap. She didn't start worrying, though, when she didn't see him in the living room; she figured he had gone to his bedroom or went to get something from the kitchen. She stood up from her resting place and she stared strolling around the entire house, trying to rid herself of the grogginess from sleep. As she started becoming less dazed, she realized that she hadn't seen Brian around the house and panic began to set in a little but not entirely since there was one room she hadn't checked. Upon reaching his bedroom, she found Selena standing within it and her hands were on the back of her head. "Selena?" Riley questioned. "Where in the hell is Brian?"

        Selena turned to face her, her arms dropping to her sides. She had a concerned expression on her face. "I have no idea, Riley. I did not see him with you in the living room, so I started looking around. I cannot find him anywhere." She gestured towards Riley. "I can see that you have done the same," she added on, referring to the fact that Riley was looking around, too. Looking away from her half-sibling, she looked at Brian's bed; it was neat, almost like he never slept in it. She looked back towards Riley. "Was he planning on heading somewhere today? Specifically around this hour?" she questioned. They needed to find him before something bad happened. If he wasn't inside the building, he had to be outside of it. "Riley?"

        With widening eyes, Riley sprinted out of the bedroom. She headed towards the living room with Selena following close behind. She peered at the clock on the wall. "It's almost nine." Gulping, she placed a hand to her face momentarily. "Fucking shit, he went to work about a hour ago. Goddamn it." Running to the front door, she felt at her jean pockets in search for her keys and she quickly pulled them out. "We gotta hurry before something happens to him, too. That fucking idiot should've known better than to just leave the house while a psychopathic demon is on the loose." Brian wasn't aware that the murderer was a demon, but still, Riley believed that he should've known better. She headed out of the house, but stopped short on the porch, freezing up. Selena ran into her, not expecting for her to suddenly stop. Riley didn't like the sight she was seeing and she hoped that she was just dreaming it all up.

        "What is the matter? Why have you stopped?" Selena asked, confused. She glanced over Riley's shoulder and she, too, caught immediate sight of Brian's 2002 Ford Taurus; it was still parked inside the driveway and that definitely wasn't a good thing for them to be aware of. "I thought you said he headed off to work?" she questioned, sounding a bit naive. "Why would his car still be here if he had?"

        Riley gulped and, after a moment, found her voice. "Because he didn't leave." She started walking down the porch steps slowly, trying to delay the inevitable; she had the feeling that she was gonna see his corpse inside the vehicle and she didn't want him to be gone like her parents. Stepping closer and closer to the truck, she mentally prepared herself for the sight she would probably see. She could hear Selena following close behind her and that alone gave her a little bit of comfort. Upon reaching the truck, Riley peaked through the window, but she immediately became surprised when she found nothing. She was so surprised that she ignored the fact that Selena had walked by her; she had been expecting to see a body. "I... I guess he got himself a lift or something..." she said. She wasn't sure, though. She was just trying to stay positive.

        As she turned towards Selena, she was suddenly turned away from the truck by her. She opened her mouth to speak, but Selena cut her off as she started pushing her older half-sibling away from the vehicle. "You do not need to see it," Selena stated, confirming the worst. She had spotted Brian's corpse inside the cargo bed, his body having been ripped to shreds. His death had been far more violent than the deaths of Christi and Ryan or perhaps it was just as brutal. Nonetheless, blood was literally pooling inside the cargo bed of the truck and Selena did not want Riley to see it. She did not need to see it; it would only make it worse for her.

        Instantly, Riley released a loud sob as she turned around. She tried attempting to head back towards the truck, but her younger half-sibling prevented her from doing such. "Brian!" she yelled as she sobbed. She fought against Selena, trying to remove herself from her hold so that she could see what Mara had done but Selena wouldn't allow her to get by, no matter what. "Let me see! Let me see him! I need to see what she did to him!" She had to see it for herself; she wanted to see what had become of the man she loved deeply.

        Refusal was all that Riley got because Selena wasn't gonna release her. "No, Riley. You must remember him as he was last night. You do not need to see what he looks like now. It will only make you hurt more and it will destroy your memory of him." She didn't want Riley to be in more distress. "We must go. Mara is near and she could attack whilst you are vulnerable. We both do not want that, yes?" She wished that she could give Brian a proper burial, but she was unable to do such right that moment. "We must head back inside where we will be safe from harm. Come." She continued to hold onto Riley as she lead her back towards the household, the two of them reentering it quickly. After closing the front door behind them, she released Riley from her grip and she fixed the broken salt line quickly.

        Crying, Riley headed over to the couch and she dropped onto it, face first. Her heart was broken; she had lost the man that she had grown to deeply love, the man who finally confessed his own love for her the previous day. She had lost almost every single person that she cared about and all she had left was Selena. As she sobbed into the couch cushion, her thirst for vengeance returned and it was far more overwhelming than the last time; she had been pissed when her parents were murdered and she additionally had been quite upset about it, but with Brian being dead too, she was far beyond both emotions by that point. She roughly gripped the cushion and she ripped it off of the couch as she stood up, throwing it across the living room. Selena was standing nearby, watching, and Riley made a move towards her, speaking with hatred. "Do you believe me now, Selena? I told you it was Amaryllis. For fuck's sake, she even told us that she'd come back to get us and our loved ones."

        Selena looked down at her feet, speaking gently to Riley. "I believe I already established that I believe you about Mara. So, what do you propose we do to stop her?" she asked. She didn't want anyone else to die because of them. Her heart was broken enough from all of the losses. She despised that Christi and her father were killed, she despised that Brian had been killed too, and she despised that Riley was suffering more than her because of Brian's death. She was very upset about it all, but she had cried enough the night before. Right that moment, she needed to stay focused and she needed to mourn at a better time, sometime after they dealt with Mara.

        Riley stepped closer to Selena, her fists clenched. "We're gonna do exactly what we did last time," she answered. Selena tilted her head slightly, uncertain of the idea; it hadn't exactly worked in their favor, considering that Mara came back and killed three people they cared about. "We draw her in, we trap her, we send her back to Hell, and we rejoice. It worked wonders last time before this unfortunate side effect." However, the previous time was very easy because Mara had been in love with Riley. As of that moment, Mara hated Riley and the entire family. "We'll have to use a different type of bait this time, though," she added on, narrowing her eyes at Selena. "You up for the job, lil' sis?" Selena was the last person left that Riley loved and yet, she was willing to place her at risk of dying; they needed to get rid of Mara somehow.

        Sighing loudly, Selena replied. "I disapprove of this plan entirely. You are not thinking clearly." If Riley had a clear mindset, she wouldn't be asking Selena to be bait; she'd be figuring out another way of getting Mara. "We should not rush everything like this. We could be killed, too." She believed that they should take their time coming up with a decent plan. The plan that Riley had, it was just reckless and extremely risky.

        Riley glared at her, tears of anger and sadness pouring down her cheeks. "I don't fucking care, Selena. Whether you like it or not, you're being the bait." She was determined to end that bullshit. If Mara were to return a third time, she'd just send her ass back to Hell once more. If the demoness continued returning, Riley would just keep on sending her back where she belonged until she found a way to keep her away permanently...

**~August 10th, 2003; Bailey, North Carolina~**

        Darkness filled the household as nightfall arrived. Everything was set in place. All that remained was breaking the salt line, which would allow Mara to enter. The half-siblings knew that she was waiting in the shadows, sitting back until it was the right time to strike. Selena stood by the dining table, a Devil's Trap drawn above it. Looking up at it, she released a sigh; she wasn't entirely sure if their plan was gonna work but it was do or die. She proceeded to move away from the table and she headed past the couch, a Devil's Trap above it as well. The third and final Devil's Trap was on the ceiling in the small foyer. Hopefully, Mara would walk into one of them during the fight that they were predicting.

        Walking to the front door, Selena glanced towards Brian's bedroom and she spotted Riley peeking out from her little hiding spot. Noticing that Selena was looking at her, Riley gave her a quick thumbs up and mouthed  _good luck_. For probably the first time in her existence, Selena rolled her eyes at Riley and she shook her head slightly as she faced the door. She looked down at the salt line and ran her shoe through it, breaking it. Seconds later, she was suddenly sent flying backwards a few feet as the door flew open. She landed roughly on her back and she groaned in pain as she slowly sat up. Her eyes widened as she spotted Mara stepping inside of the household, her vessel being Emily Swan once again and she was wearing only a short rosy dress covered in dry blood.

        "Did you miss me, you little ray of sunshine?" Mara cooed, smirking at Selena. "Because I certainly missed you." She glanced around the foyer, searching for Riley. "Where's my former love? Did she slip away somehow?" She looked back towards Selena, tilting her head a lot. "No. She's hiding somewhere instead. You have switched places. You both are planning to try and trap me again, aren't you? Too bad it isn't gonna happen, sweetpea." She lifted her arm above her head, her palm pointing towards the Devil's Trap on the ceiling. Suddenly, the wood split right through the trap, rendering it useless. She lowered her arm and she stepped towards Selena, continuing to smirk. "I won't be falling for that old trick again. As you can see, I learnt a few new tricks." She was stronger than she previously was because she was at a higher demonic level.

        As she reached Selena, she moved to pick her up from the ground but she stopped when holy water was suddenly splashed into her face by the young woman. Hissing in pain, she waved her arm and sent Selena flying through the wall of the hallway. Selena landed onto the dining table roughly and she rolled onto the floor. Blood was dripping down both sides of her head. "Riley…" she whimpered. Why wasn't Riley helping? She started crawling towards the couch, not having the strength to get up; she wasn't injured too badly but the second throw had knocked the wind outta her.

        "No crawling away," Mara commented as she appeared behind Selena. She picked her up by the back of her shirt and she threw her forward, sending her flying across the room. Selena flew by the couch and landed at the window, injured more than she had been previously. Mara started laughing. "Looks like dear o' sister doesn't want to come out and play with us. Oh well. More fun for me, I suppose." She slowly began to approach Selena, like a hunter moving towards its prey. She hissed in pain again but also growled in anger when a white fireball hit her arm, leaving a very nasty burn. She looked towards where she previously had been and she spotted Riley standing there, another white fireball in hand. Mara smirked. "Well, well. So, you did come to play after all. Yay. I was looking forward to it, darling. I missed you so much."

        "We're sending you back to Hell where you belong," Riley stated, glaring at her. She raised her arm, ready to toss a fireball again but she hesitated when she finally came to realize who Mara was possessing. Her glare intensified as she came to the quick conclusion that Mara chose to possess Emily again just to spite them.

        Mara scoffed but continued smirking. "Good luck with that, lovebug." She glanced at the fireball in Riley's hand. "Keep 'em coming, sweetie. They won't kill me, but they certainly will kill the true owner of this meat suit. You don't want that, do you?" She released a maniacal laugh, one that was stopped short when a fireball hit her in the face. She let out a scream as the flames scorched up the face of her vessel. When the flames died down, melted flesh started falling down to the floor. The demoness glared at Riley. "That wasn't very nice, darling." She held her palm out towards Riley and waved it towards hers, causing Riley to come flying at her. Gripping tightly onto her former lover's neck, Mara tossed her into the nearby wall and pinned her there with her new telekinetic power, releasing her hold on the woman's neck. She smirked again, her face ugly from the burns. "You are gonna stay there and you will watch as I kill your sister. Then, you are coming with me, just like you were always meant to because you are my pet and no one else is allowed to keep you." She got close to her face. "You are mine, baby, and you always will be. I've permanently claimed you."

        Behind her, Selena was slowly removing herself from the floor. She held in her grunts of pain as she stood up, her eyes locking on Mara and Riley. She was lucky to be able to move at all; she most likely had a concussion, she probably had a shit load of bruises forming, and her right wrist was the only thing that had gotten broken. At the very least, nothing worse had occurred. She glared at Mara and while the demon was distracted by Riley, she mimicked the demoness by raising her uninjured hand and she waved it towards where the Devil's Trap was (above the couch), sending the demoness flying towards its direction. Once Mara had entered it, she hit an invisible wall that immediately prevented her from leaving the trap. As the demoness screamed in outrage while she tried to break free, Riley was released from her telekinetic hold. The half-siblings approached Mara together, Selena slightly limping on the way over because of the pain she was feeling. "No!" Mara yelled. She was so close to getting her revenge! She had it all planned! She was gonna torture Riley in Hell for years, shape her into the perfect slave! How could she have failed her mission?!

        Selena shrugged, copying the habit that Juliet had. "You shouldn't had wasted time with your monologue." She looked towards Riley. "Would you like to be the one to send her back this time?" She reached into her back pocket and pulled out a paper, handing it to her. She wasn't angry with her half-sister for taking so long to help her. She was just happy to have survived through all of that mess.

        "Absolutely." Riley took the paper from Selena's hands and opened it. Looking down at the sheet, she began to speak in Latin. Mara growled and screamed as she jerked around. Halfway through the incantation, the demoness did something that the half-sisters should've expected; she impaled herself with her own hand and arm multiple times, additionally ripping out a few intestines. The demoness smirked evilly at them, but Riley continued reading out loud, knowing there was nothing they could do to save Emily. Mara started jerking around again. As Riley finished the final verse, the demoness snapped her own neck, which ultimately ended Emily's life and suffering, and she laughed evilly again before she was finally forced out of Emily's body, sent back into Hell a second time by the half-siblings. Emily's body dropped onto the floor, completely lifeless.

        Selena frowned as she looked down at Emily's corpse. Tears formed in her eyes as she stared at it for a moment, but none spilled over her cheeks. "I wish we could have saved her again." She turned towards Riley and she hissed slightly from doing it too quickly. Riley stared at her, greatly concerned. "I will be fine," she reassured her. "I have minor injuries that will heal in time. Do not blame yourself for being unable to help me sooner."

        "I shouldn't have hesitated," Riley stated as she continued frowning. "Exactly how minor are your injuries? Is anything broken? Sprained? Unfixable? What?" She was extremely worried about Selena. She could've attacked Mara sooner, but she had hesitated because she had started to doubt her plan. She nearly got her last remaining family member killed because of it.

        Selena answered her carefully. "I may have a concussion, I will have many bruises on my body by sunrise, and I believe that my right wrist is either broken or sprained because it hurts a lot and I cannot move it much." She looked back towards Emily's corpse and she continued to frown. "Mara might return once more," she remarked. "Possibly sooner than this time or maybe further into the distant future. Regardless, she may return and we need to be prepared for that."

        Riley shrugged, still looking at Selena with much concern. "We'll just keep sending her back to Hell until she finally gives up or something." She didn't really care about Mara returning, not during that moment anyway. She cared more about wanting to get Selena to a hospital.

        Selena looked back towards Riley, her frown remaining. "That will not occur. Demons are usually restless and they tend to never stop once they have gotten started. We may have to exorcise her for the rest of our lives or until we can find a more permanent manner to be rid of her. We will have to be on guard endlessly."

        "You're probably right. As usual." Riley released another sigh. "Come on, Selena. Let's get you to a hospital before I go insane." Her half-sibling nodded and they both turned around, heading towards the front door. As Selena headed out of the house, Riley paused. She glanced around the household one final time, a sad smile on her face and tears in her eyes once again. She was gonna miss the house, as well as the man who once lived in it. She gripped onto the necklace that still hung from her neck and she squeezed it tightly in her grasp. "I'll always love you, Brian, and I'll always miss you," she whispered to herself. Releasing her grip on her necklace, she walked out the door and headed into the darkness of the night...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trivia:
> 
> 1) Rebecca Grant, an Immortal, has the power of Elemental-Kinesis (she can control, manipulate, and create elements) but what elements she can do such with isn't fully known, other than those that she passed down to her daughters; Air, Electricity, Energy, Ice, Metal, and Water. Juliet Grant, an Immortal, has the power of Air. Selena Grant, an Immortal Human (an Immortal that is mostly Human), has the power of Telekinesis (moving things with her mind) and Weak Elemental-Kinesis (controls Electricity, Energy, Ice, Metal, and Water). Riley Piers, a Human, has the power of Pyrokinesis (white flames and can become one with the flames, that still meaning that she can make fire not harm her when she comes in contact with it) and Shape-Shifting (into wolves only).
> 
> 2) Dean and Sam Winchester will be making their first appearance in Chapter Three: No Woman In White. However, it's more of a cameo appearance with slight interaction with Riley and Selena. And the chapter itself will involve a two-year (ish) time skip. You'll enjoy it regardless, I hope.
> 
> 3) If you're unaware of the very tiny Mr. Robot reference, let me explain it to you. Rami Malek stars in that show and he plays a character named Elliot Alderson. In this story, he portrays someone with that same last name. You're welcome.
> 
> 4) Riley is bisexual. Just putting that out there. However, she is mostly attracted to men.
> 
> 5) More info on Immortal Beings to avoid anyone mentioning 'plot holes' in the idea: Immortal Beings do not need to eat, they cannot sleep, they do not need to breathe but prefer to do so, they do need showers and they do need to use the restroom like any normal person. Female Immortal Beings do have periods, making it possible for conception. Immortal Beings cannot age and almost cannot be killed. How they can be killed will be revealed in the future but don't expect it to be something special because it's actually completely simple. Lastly, Juliet and Rebecca are the rare Immortal Beings that gained a power. Selena doesn't exactly count because she is mostly human so it was more likely for her to get powers, which she did, because her father had powers.
> 
> 6) If some of the scenes in this chapter seemed rushed, I apologize. They were not rushed at all. I think the chapter is perfect as it is, after having edited it in October. To me, it's the perfect beginning to the long journey ahead. I'm sure we all know where the real beginning starts :). Also, fair warning, I won't always be giving actual trivia because it might get boring for me to do that.


	3. Mostly Ghostly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Riley Piers and Selena Grant have their first official hunt within this chapter. Because they are amateurs, they make multiple rookie mistakes that almost costs them their lives. We all know that they don't die because if they did, this book would be over before it truly began.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Original Content/Dialogue, Errors of Any Kind, Tiny Time-Skip After Scene One, Violence (Probably Should've Listed That In The Previous Chapter Cause There Was Violence There, Too, But Oh Well; Shit Happens), Potentially Dumb Scenes/Dialogue, High Possibility of Realistic Actions/Reactions, Small Possibility of Unrealistic Actions/Reactions, Sensitive Topic Is Discussed For A Short Moment, Some Scenes Are Much Shorter Than Others (Some May Contain Little to No Dialogue, If I'm Completely Honest), Amateur/Noob Moves/Moments, Original Character Deaths (No One You Care About, This Time; You're Welcome, Lovelies)
> 
> I Decided That I'll Be Putting Random Notes In Between the Warnings and Cast Continuously. So, Here Ya Go. This Is NOT the Last Chapter That Doesn't Contain The Winchester Brothers. Chapter Four: Reunion Is Going To Be The Almost Last Chapter That The Boys Don't Appear In. I Know Ya Don't Like All The Lack of Winchester Sexiness (XD Couldn't Resist, Sorry), So Bare With Me For Three More Chapters of No Dean and Sam Winchester In The Now, Near, and Far Future. They Will Still Appear In The Next Chapter, However. You're Welcome, Lovelies. Don't Expect Me To Always Inform You of What's Happening In The Next Chapters; I'll Only Do It Sometimes. Also, This Is The Last Time I'll Put The Age of The Actors/Actresses When Their Age Was Already Mentioned In A Previous Casting of a Previous Chapter. From Now On, Ages Will Be Shown When A Character Ages Up (Probably) or When It's A New Cast Member. Nah. Better Yet, Just Imagine Them As How They Are Described or How You Wanna Imagine Them. Lastly, I Will Not Refer To Riley and Selena as Half-Sisters Too Often Since That Might Get Rather Annoying (I Might Just Simply Put Sister or Siblings Without Half In Front).
> 
> Nina Dobrev as Selena Grant  
> Hayden Panettiere as Riley Piers  
> Emmanuelle Chriqui as Rebecca Grant  
> Victoria Justice as Juliet Grant  
> Logan Lerman as Random Guy at Store  
> Sarah Hyland as Random Girl at Store  
> Chelah Horsdal as Bethany Davis  
> Chris Hemsworth as Richard Davis  
> Skyler Shaye as Bianca Davis  
> Amber Heard as Cordelia Davis

_I keep my mind here, in my hands, at my side._  
_But, yes, through my ear, all my brains seem to slide._  
_Oh, I love my head; I was clever in life,_  
_But witlessness dread, so beware of my scythe._

_(Mostly Ghostly - Kristen Lawrence)_

* * *

**~August 13th, 2003; Raleigh, North Carolina~**

        Approximately two days had gone by since the half-sisters, Riley Piers and Selena Grant, had exorcised Amaryllis (Mara) for a second time. Various events had occurred following the fight with that demon and it definitely didn't make life any easier for the two siblings. Firstly, shortly after Riley had taken Selena to a hospital, the two of them learnt that Selena indeed had a concussion and a broken right wrist, just like Selena had suspected beforehand. Additionally, Selena's torso would hurt like hell whenever she moved and it was all because of the bruises that had formed from the beating she had taken; however, she seemed very capable of managing herself as she simply endured the pain. Secondly, the sisters didn't cover their tracks and because of such, the corpses of Brian and Emily were found; Brian's corpse was found by a passing jogger who had smelt the stench of the body as they went by the household and shortly after the authorities had arrived at the scene, Emily's corpse was found. Finally, just the day before, two police officers had arrived at the household of the half-siblings, searching for Christi and Ryan; the station had gotten a report of domestic abuse when Selena had answered a phone-call from her parents' co-worker whilst Riley was causing unsettling noises in the background (in reality, Riley was just dragging the bodies of her parents outside and she was throwing a lot of things in anger as she did such; the co-worker overheard such loud noises and expected the worst was happening). As a result of all that nonsense, Riley easily told a half-truth to the cops; she told them that she had gotten mad about her parents taking off for a vacation without her and Selena, throwing some things during her rampage. Luckily for the siblings, the lie was believed.

        Selena stared at  _Metro Diner_ , hesitating to enter. She wasn't exactly terrified of going in, but she wasn't entirely confident either because she had no idea what to expect. What was her mother going to think when she heard about her plans? Was she gonna be happy for her? Was she gonna be furious with her? She really didn't know how her mother was going to react when she was told the news. She looked away from the diner, glancing down at her hands. One of them, her right hand, was covered with a white cast. "I must admit that I am quite nervous," she spoke gently. She gazed towards Riley, who was leaning against the car. "I fear that she may not like my decision." She shoved her left hand into the pocket of her leather jacket as she continued to stare at Riley, resting her injured hand against her purple ombre jeans. Around her neck, a different necklace was accompanying her lovely pendant, both hanging over her black top; it was a beautiful Peacock Swarovski crystal with a single Angel wing hanging in front of it. Anxiously, she shifted on her black boot-covered feet.

        Riley scoffed as she looked towards Selena, her arms crossed over her chest. "Who gives a shit what she thinks? It's your decision, not hers. If she hates it, she can just go fuck herself in the anus with a knife. If she likes it, I guess that would be a great thing but I still think she should go fuck herself. Or eat shit and die. Whichever comes first." Her thoughts about Rebecca were very clear; she hated the woman with a burning passion. "She can't control you anymore, Selena. She hasn't controlled your life since you came to live with me and-" She immediately shook her head, stopping herself from continuing that sentence. "So, don't let her gain that power back. You're a grown ass woman and she can't fucking stop you from doing whatever the hell you want." She huffed, shaking her head again. She glanced down at her black moto-chic boots, kicking at the pavement beneath her; she additionally was wearing a white top, red leather skinnies, and a black jacket. "The very least she can do is be civil about what you're gonna tell her, but I highly doubt she'll keep her insults to herself."

        Selena nodded shortly, agreeing with her sister. "I agree that she has no control over me anymore, but I still wish for her to accept my decision. And just as you do, I really hope she is civil about it." While she was worried about what her mother would think of her decision, she wasn't worried about Juliet's opinion of the matter because she had a great feeling that her other half-sister would either be very happy with her choice or be very supportive. She wasn't looking forward to the conversation either way, though.

        Riley shrugged as she kept her eyes on her feet. "Yeah, sure, whatever. However, you won't find out anything by standing out here all day. Get your skinny ass moving, little sister, so we can get the hell outta dodge." They weren't gonna be staying within that state anymore, after all.

        Following her older sibling's instructions, Selena stopped her stalling and she headed inside the diner while Riley remained at the car. Upon entering, she looked around the place and she quickly came to realize that Leslie wasn't there again. Shortly thereafter, she immediately came to the conclusion that the woman had stayed home again because of the death of her daughter, Emily, and she hoped that her mourning friend would eventually find some sort of closure. Additionally, she noticed that there weren't very many customers there that day. Letting out a low sigh, she stepped forward and started heading towards the table where she had seen her family members sitting at, both of which were quite aware of the situation that Selena was in.

        Immediately after Selena had sat down beside Juliet and across from Rebecca, her mother had started speaking to her. "I've been thinking a lot about this little situation of yours and I've come to the decision that you should come back home with us. I  _want_  you to live with us again. I'll take care of you, just like I was always meant to. We'll protect you from those pathetic authority figures because it's only a matter of time before they realize that you were there at the crime scene." She made a face of disgust as she leaned forward in her seat, her arms lying on the table. " _Riley_ , on the other hand, will just have to either be on the run or be caught because I cannot and will not help her. She is vermin, just like her pathetic parents that got themselves killed. She is one of the many scum on this planet and she needs to be dealt with by her own kind. Therefore, she is on her own." She didn't give two shits about what happened to Riley as a result of the recklessness that had occurred; she only cared about her daughter's well-being and she planned on protecting her from everything, human or monster. She also just wished to have control over Selena's life again; she liked being the dominant/alpha of her household.

        Selena shook her head immediately after her mother had finished speaking. "No, Mother," she declined, causing Rebecca to frown. "I do not need your help with any of this mess. I did not ask for your assistance to begin with. I had merely just informed you of Riley and I's situation so that you were aware of the problem at hand." She was making a stand for once; she wasn't going to go back to that house and live in isolation again. She was just going to outright lay her decision on her mother since Rebecca had outright laid her own without a care in the world. "I'm a grown woman, Mother. One that simply cannot leave her half-sister alone." She stared right into her mother's eyes and she continued with her words confidently. "I am leaving with Riley, Mother, and the two of us are going to become hunters." Hunters were humans (usually) who would hunt down the supernatural and save potential victims from the various paranormal creatures that lived in the universe; she and Riley were aware of the existence of hunters because they had witnessed a few monster slayings in the past. "She and I might as well become such a thing," Selena continued. "We have dealt with the same demon twice and we are very aware of the other paranormal creatures out there. She and I both have chosen that the predator should become the prey. All I wish is for your blessings upon this decision of mine." Whatever their reactions were, she was sticking with her choice.

        "I, for one, think that she'll make a fantastic hunter," Juliet remarked, smiling brightly at Selena. Selena looked towards her and smiled back, pleased that Juliet was being supportive, just as she had hoped she would be. Her older half-sister looked towards their shared parent. "Aren't you pleased, Mama? She'll be saving lives. She'll be ridding the world of dangerous monsters. She'll be making a reputation for herself. She could even become a legend of some sort, or a legacy in other words. You should be supportive of her, too." She was trying to keep their mother from releasing a negative reaction in public.

        Rebecca couldn't believe her ears. Never had she expected for Selena to talk back to her like that, nor had she predicted that Juliet would be so positive about it. "No," she stated immediately after her oldest daughter finished talking. She would not be supportive of Selena's decision because it was the worst one she had ever heard in her large span of life. She had the darkest of looks as her expression, her eyes locked on Selena continuously. "No daughter of mine is becoming one of those lowlifes. I absolutely forbid it from happening. Those hunters are the worst kind of humans. I will not stand around and watch you become just like them." She raised her hand, pointing at her youngest daughter as a stern look appeared on her face. "You and I both know that she'll wither away someday. Then, you'll be lonesome. You need to stay here where you belong and more importantly, you shouldn't be heading off somewhere with her whilst you're healing from your injuries. It's just about as reckless as what the two of you had pulled. Just remain as you are and give up on this dumb dream of yours. You're much safer here with us and you'll never be alone."

        "I am remaining as myself," Selena informed her mother. "I simply am just putting thoughts into actions. I have the potential to make the world a safer place. My injuries can heal whilst I am on the road with Riley. She and I have already agreed that we will not officially start hunting until after I am almost completely healed." In other words, the siblings would merely be sight seeing for a while and they probably would research countless amounts of creatures, just to have some idea in mind. Additionally, they'd likely try to contact several experienced hunters to get some extra information. Nonetheless, anything hunter related would likely be difficult for them but it would likely be well worth it in the end. "What makes you believe that I will still be alive when she grows to be an elderly?" she asked her mother, out of curiosity. She tilted her head slightly towards the left. "She might not manage to get that far in the aging process because of the life we're entering. She could easily be killed by any creature we come across and I surely could as well. After all, I am not entirely like you, James, and Juliet; whilst I cannot age, I do have a higher chance of dying than any of you combined."

        Rebecca stared at Selena in surprise. She honestly had thought that her daughter would have a change of heart, but she certainly had been incorrect with her assumption. She was unable to speak again because she was feeling such disbelief about it; her disbelief would likely transform into outrage again as time passed onward. Juliet spoke instead and she shared nothing but praise. "I'm so proud of you, Selena," she said, her eyes locked on her half-sibling. "You're doing such a great thing for the planet. You'll have to come visit us whenever you're able. I might even attempt to visit you both, as long as you keep contact with me."

        Selena smiled at Juliet. "You know, you are welcome to come along with us. Riley surely would not oppose the idea." After all, Riley's relations with Juliet were far more positive than her relations with Rebecca and that was a well known fact to all of them.

        Juliet politely declined the offer with a grin on her face. "Thank you for informing me of that, but I wish to remain by Mother's side. Besides, I really dislike playing human." She shrugged lightly. "Although they make delicious foods, I'd rather stay home where I can be myself without anything holding me back." She looked towards their frowning mother. "Are you alright, Mother?"

        Rebecca didn't respond to Juliet, her eyes narrowing at Selena. Her darkened look returned and she leaned back into her seat. "Once you leave, do not return. You are no longer welcome here." She was very disappointed in Selena's decision to leave and become a hunter. She almost didn't want anything to do with her anymore.  _Almost_. She stood up from the seat and she brushed her formal clothing, wiping away the absent dirt. "Come along, Juliet. Let us take our leave." She began to stride away from the table, without waiting for Juliet to follow behind, and she quickly exited the diner.

        Together, the half-sisters released loud sighs as they stood up from their seats. Instead of heading outside of the diner, they turned towards one another and they hugged. Neither of them were aware of how long they would be separated, so they were buying as much time as they could. "You take good care of yourself, Selena, and watch over Riley cause she's bound to do some stupid shit," Juliet told her. "And don't die any time soon because I won't be able to bare with the feeling." She wasn't merely speaking of the feeling of sorrow; she was also talking about the intense and unpleasant pain that she would immediately feel if the death of any family member occurred (that was something they never figured out, but they often assumed it was because of a magical bond between them all).

        "I shall try my best," Selena answered as they pulled away from one another. She quickly gave Juliet an once over before she shook her head in dismay. "I do hope you begin wearing more appropriate clothing in the future. If you continue dressing like this, you are more likely to be jumped by someone." She was looking after her older sister by giving her some advice; although, it was likely she'd most definitely ignore it.

        Juliet glanced down at her clothing for a second; she was dressed in a white tube-top, sleek black skinnies, a graffiti-print black leather jacket, and some black heels. She huffed as she looked back at Selena, placing her hands on her hips as she struck a random pose. "I think I look fucking hot. Let them boys mess with me; it's not assault if I want it to happen. If they try anything I don't like, I'll just rip them a new one. It's that simple." Selena sighed but smiled slightly at her. She smiled back. "I'll be seeing you around, little sister. Hopefully. You and Riley keep each other safe, alright? Peace!" Throwing up a peace sign (with her fingers), she turned away from Selena and she headed out of the diner.

        Following behind her at a slow pace, Selena exited the diner without a rush as she thought about what had occurred. She was quite disappointed with how her mother had reacted, but she had kinda seen it coming; Rebecca never liked humans and anything related to them. Honestly, she had hoped that her mother would, at least, kinda respect her decision but again, she kinda expected her to be negative about it all regardless. She was happy, though, that her mother was civil about it, to an extent, and that Juliet had been completely supportive of her. Speaking of them, neither woman could be found in the parking lot; there was only Riley and she was still leaning against the car. She half-smiled to herself and she began walking towards her half-sibling, prepared to inform her of what happened.

        When she (Selena) was close enough, Riley started shaking her head. "Your mother is a major bitch, you know that? She came out here, saw me, and then she stormed right over, just to tell me that I'm the scum of the Earth and that she hoped I'd die tomorrow." She removed herself from the vehicle and she grimaced. "I suppose that means she didn't take the news very well, huh?"

        Selena nodded shortly. "Indeed, she did not take it well, but she was very civil, in my opinion." She rubbed the back of her head, tilting her head to the side a bit for an unknown reason. "She attempted to convince me of not pursing this path, but I am determined to stick by your side until the very end." Basically, it was likely that she would remain with her until one, or both, of them passed away.

        "She can just go fuck herself in the anus," Riley stated, repeating something she had said earlier. She shook her head again. "She can't stop you from doing what you want. What did she tell you exactly? I want the full details, girly. I wanna hear exactly what that mega bitch said in a failed attempt to make you, once again, under her control. Her wording must've been terrible. I mean, it certainly couldn't have been good, considering you're still tagging along with me." The worst she could think of was Rebecca threatening to kill Riley if Selena chose to become a hunter. What could possibly be worse than that in attempts of getting Selena to the dark side?

        Selena hesitated for a single moment. She felt that Riley would just become madder, but she quickly decided to tell her anyways. "When I sat down, she immediately had began speaking of me returning home with her and Juliet. I quickly informed her of our plans afterwards and not only did she command me to not become a hunter, she had went onward with her rant, stating that you will grow old someday and leave me behind. She, then, went onward about how I should not do anything whilst I am healing." She crossed her left arm over her chest and she held onto her right arm. "After she had said that, I told her that you and I  _both_  may die long before you can become an elderly, and I told her that I can heal while we travel around since we aren't immediately going to hunt for monsters. Her response to that was for me to never return here." She half-smiled again as she began to mention Juliet. "Juliet was very supportive of our plans and she wishes for us to visit her in the future. She even mentioned that she'll try to find us someday, just to visit us in return."

        "That fucking bitch ass hoe," Riley sneered. "Satan knows that I'll hate her until the day I die." She huffed and growled for a minute before she calmed herself down a tad. "I'm really goddamn glad that Juliet is nothing like her. I'll be sure to thank her sweet ass for the support, whenever we see her next." She nodded to the side, towards the car. "Let's get moving, then. We've got a long road ahead of us." Selena nodded. Riley entered the driver's seat and Selena entered the passenger's seat. Closing the doors at the same exact time, they buckled up their seat-belts. Soon, the half-siblings were heading off towards the greatest adventure that anyone could endure...

**~October 4th, 2003; Denton, Texas~**

        A thunderstorm was raging outside of a three-storied white household. Inside one of the bedrooms on the second floor was a woman, dressed in casual clothing. She held up the navy-blue curtain of her window, shifting it aside with her pale hand. Her steel-gray eyes stared into the darkness of the night as the rain poured down from the heavens. She had a frown upon her beautiful face. "There was no forecast for this," she uttered, releasing a low sigh. "Of all nights, it had to be tonight when it rained cats and dogs." Dropping the curtain with a loud puff, she ran a hand through her short, and messy, golden copper-red hair with frustration. She turned and walked over to her bedding, an elegant red dress and matching high heels laying on it; she had been getting ready for a dinner date with her husband that night, but with how much it was raining outside, that was unlikely because it appeared to be a very horrid storm. She picked up her shoes with a pout before she tossed them onto the floor roughly. She huffed out another breath.

        As the sharp cracking of thunder sounded, the woman heard another noise coming from upstairs; the disturbance was on the third floor and it sounded as if someone had knocked over something, which likely resulted in that loud banging sound that she had heard. Startled by both of the noises, she jumped and placed a hand up to her chest. Recovering just a second afterwards, she rolled her eyes at her reaction and she began to exit out of her bedroom, her eyes narrowed. She walked down the hallway and she immediately spotted the ladder to the attic; it had been pulled down and as a result, it was blocking the middle of the entryway. Assuming that it was her youngest daughter making the racket inside the attic, she started climbing up the ladder with a stern speech already in mind; no one was allowed entrance to the loft, except for her husband and herself. She spoke loudly when she finally got into there. "Bianca, what did I say about coming up here?" She blinked in surprise when she quickly came to realize that no one was up there, apart from herself. Although, it was very dark within the loft so perhaps her daughter was hiding within the darkness.

        Fully pulling herself into the attic, she blindly waved one of her hands around, aiming towards the air as she searched for the light switch that she and her husband had installed. "I know you're in here, Bianca. You're going to be in so much trouble, young lady, when I find you." Her hand eventually found the silver chain of the installed light and she yanked on it, the loft lighting up dimly. "Hmm?" She didn't see Bianca inside the small spaced attic, but she did see all of the boxes that they stored up there. One of them had been knocked over, located right in front of the only attic window. She released an annoyed sigh as she strolled over to the fallen box, picking it up and placing it on the abandoned chair it had originally been on. She smiled sadly when she noticed which box it was; it was filled with photos and objects that once belonged to Cordelia Davis, her eldest daughter that had been deceased for several months.

        A noise sounded behind her, but she didn't turn around right away; she assumed that it was just Bianca making herself known. Unfortunately for her, it wasn't her living daughter; it was a darkened figure. "You need to be far more careful up here, Bianca," Mrs. Davis told the dark figure, paying it no actual attention. "These are precious items that can easily be destroyed if you don't handle them with delicate fingers." It didn't take very long for her to notice that she wasn't getting a response. "Did you hear me, Bianca?" she asked as she turned around. Her eyes widened with fright as she caught sight of the darkened figure and she took a step back, moving closer to the window. She was unable to release a proper scream of horror because she was far too terrified. She suddenly felt herself being shoved backwards and nothing escaped past her lips as she was sent flying through the window, the glass shattering. When her body hit the pavement below, a low grunt escaped from her slightly parted mouth. Her open eyes dulled in color as she took her last breaths...

**~October 6th, 2003; Denton, Texas~**

        Cruising down the road in her white two-thousand and three Audi TT Convertible, Riley Piers was having the time of her fucking life. Just a month beforehand, her previous vehicle, a Honda Accord, had been completely trashed by a demon that she and her half-sister had encountered. She learnt her lesson that day; never bring an abnormal fight to the vehicle that one travels within. However, she didn't really miss that car one bit; she was absolutely in love with her new one, especially since it had a retractable hardtop. She enjoyed the constant breeze that brushed harshly against her face; it made her feel alive. The car stereo was blasting out music and she was bobbing her head to the beat of  _(Don't Fear) The Reaper_  by  _Blue Öyster Cult_.

        Sitting within the passenger's seat was Selena Grant, her half-sibling, and she was  _not_  having as much of a blast as her older sibling was. She appeared to be extremely anxious, her hands gripping tightly onto her seat and the door on her side. She didn't seem very fond of the new vehicle; she seemed far more afraid of it than anything else. On the bright side of matters, her concussion was long gone. Unfortunately, her broken wrist wasn't fully healed yet.

        Riley glanced towards Selena as she drove and she stopped bobbing her head to the music, releasing a small laugh when she noticed how terrified her sibling was. "Why do you always get so damn scared every single time we take the car for a long ride?" she asked. "We've dealt with much scarier things, you know. Like demons, for example, and you aren't afraid of them." She shook her head slightly as she quickly looked back towards the road, laughing once more as she teased her sibling. "But nope, you're just afraid of a little, not-so-scary car. I swear, there are much bigger things to be scared of and you're scared of a damn car."

        "In my defense, I was not like this  _until_  you bought the horrid car that we're currently sitting inside," Selena stated as she stared anxiously at the road ahead of them, hoping that they'd come to a stop sooner than later. "I will admit that I have always felt anxious whilst inside a vehicle, but this one in particular is much more of a death trap than most vehicles in existence." She gulped as her sibling sped up the car on purpose and her tight grip on everything somehow grew tighter. Her tone became much more uneven than it had been. "Car accidents occur more often than not and with no roof over our heads at this very moment, we are much more likely to die if we were to be in such an accident." She greatly wished that Riley had gotten a much safer vehicle.

        Riley scoffed. "You're afraid of  _dying_? Seriously?" She never thought she'd learn that about her younger sibling. She shook her head again. "Seriously, Selena? You have a fear of death and yet, here you are. You're slowly becoming a decent hunter with me as we both enter a life that gives us a large possibility of dying earlier than most people. Excellent career choice, I must say."

        Selena shook her head slightly, releasing a long sigh. "No, you have it all wrong, Riley. I do not fear death. Being brutally mangled in a car accident is just not how I picture myself leaving this world and I would very much like to avoid having such a horrid death." She figured that she'd die by the hands of a demon or by any of the creatures they would likely encounter someday. She definitely didn't want her death to be caused by a simple car accident; she wanted her death to have some sort of meaning. Furthermore, she believed that being killed by a demon would be far  _less_  brutal.

        "Uh huh," Riley responded, unconvinced. "Whatever you say, sis."

        The car jerked slightly when Riley suddenly chose to slow down, which resulted in Selena digging her nails further into her seat. Following such events, Riley turned down the volume of the stereo as a different song came on; they were entering a town, so it was polite of her to make sure that the music wasn't blasting too loudly. "Can we stop for a while, please?" Selena asked her when she realized that they were no longer in the outskirts. "If I am in this vehicle any longer, a severe anxiety attack is what's gonna brutally kill me." Her older sibling laughed at her, but she nodded, much to Selena's relief.

        After driving a little longer, Riley pulled into the parking lot of a convenience store. As soon as the car was parked, Selena removed her seat-belt and she immediately removed herself from the vehicle, which ultimately caused her older sibling to laugh aloud at her as she slowly removed herself from the car. Selena sent a glare at her sibling, not amused by the fact that her sister was entertained by her fear of the death machine. Heading inside the store, Riley immediately walked over to where the junk food was stored and Selena followed behind slowly as she looked around at all the various drinks and snacks. Riley was quick with her choosing of items; she grabbed various packs of Twinkies and Sno Balls (much to her younger sibling's dismay because the snacks were quite unhealthy) before she grabbed a random pack of beer from the nearby cooler. Selena was slower with her picking of snacks but her choices were a tad healthier; she grabbed a bar of dark chocolate and two Dr. Peppers. As they headed to the checkout counter, they overheard two casually dressed teens talking.

        "Something isn't right about the Davis family," the male stated as he spoke with his female friend that stood in front of him. He shook his head, his short coal-black hair not moving an inch. Shoving his hands into the pockets of his gray hoodie, he continued speaking to the girl. "The deaths that happened in that house... It's just too mysterious for them to have been only unfortunate accidents." Upon hearing the information, the half-sisters glanced at one another before they both pretended that they were looking for more snacks, both of them eavesdropping on the conversation more. The boy spoke further, fear in his blue eyes and wariness in his deep tone. "Brandon James had a chandelier fall on his fucking head when he was visiting, Blake Jordan had his head sliced in half by a goddamn saw-blade while he was working with Mr. Davis, and just two nights ago, Mrs. Davis supposedly committed suicide by jumping out of their attic window." He gestured towards his friend. "Do you think that maybe it was Mr. Davis that offed them?"

        His friend didn't seem to care all that much about it as she rolled her pale-green eyes at him. "Dude, accidents happen all the time. Just because the man was there during one of the tragic events, it doesn't mean that he was the cause of it." She didn't believe that the three had been murdered inside the household; she just thought of their deaths as unfortunate tragedies, like most people did. She ran her hand through her bright chocolate-brown hair before she spoke again. "You really need to take a chill pill. You always suspect that something major is happening."

        The male shook his head in disagreement. "Mrs. Davis was found too far away from the house. It couldn't have been a suicide." He shivered from fright. "It gives me chills just thinking about it. I'm telling you, Mr. Davis is offing off his family and friends, one by one. Just watch. It won't be long before he starts going after others." Realizing they weren't going to get any additional information from the teens, the half-siblings checked out their items with post-haste. The two of them knew exactly what they were gonna be doing in that town, all thanks to the gossiping of the terrified teenage boy...

**~October 6th, 2003; Denton, Texas~**

        Shortly after much necessary research and prepping, the half-siblings headed to the Davis household, the location where all the supposed accidents had taken place. After driving up to the three-storied home and stepping out of the vehicle, both sisters brushed their hands down the black blazers of their professional clothing; both of them were dressed up, pulling off the look of FBI agents. Riley was entirely confident about their charade, but Selena wasn't; this was their first time pretending to be FBI agents and Selena was anxious about what was to come. Would the family believe that the ID badges were real? Would they know something was wrong? Would they ask them questions that they wouldn't really be able to answer? Would they bring up something unusual? These were all the things that Selena was worrying about; they were still very knew to the whole hunting gig, so it was extremely likely that they would/could make a major mistake by accident.

        As the sisters approached the front door of the building, Riley lightly patting Selena's shoulder. "Leave everything to me, little sis. You just stand there and look pretty," she instructed her nervous younger sibling. Selena scoffed at her, knowing fully well that those words were far easier said than done. Riley removed her hand from Selena as they reached the closed front door and she knocked on it, placing her hand down at her side momentarily as both of them waited for someone to answer. A young woman opened the door and her chocolate-brown eyes locked on them, her bright pale-blonde hair hanging past her shoulders. "Hello," Riley greeted. "You are Bianca Davis, I presume?" She reached into her blazer and pulled out her fake ID badge, Selena following suit with the motion. Together, they flipped their badges open and showed off the IDs inside. "I'm Agent Jareau and this is my partner, Agent Perez. We're here to ask you a few questions concerning the unfortunate events that took place within your home." Both sisters closed their badges and placed them back into their blazers.

        Bianca frowned at them, but she nodded; she wasn't fond of having to be questioned, but she was willing to answer at the best of her knowledge. "Okay... Come in..." She stepped aside, allowing both sisters to enter the household. After closing the door back, she lead the siblings to the nearby living room. Within the room was her father, Richard Davis; he was the man that some people believed to be the culprit of all the incidents. Introductions were made and shortly thereafter, they all settled down into a seat of some sort. "What would you like to know?" Bianca asked, secretly wishing for the questioning to be over already.

        "Anything you can tell us," Riley replied immediately. Mere seconds later, she clarified her words in questions. "How did these events happen? Did anything strange occur during the time of the deaths? Has anything odd happened since?" Anything at all would give her, and Selena, an idea of what creature they were dealing with. Hopefully, when they learnt of whatever it was, they'd be able to handle getting rid of it; they never had a case before, so it was their first official hunt and they had a large lack of knowledge about a lot of important things. Perhaps they wouldn't screw up everything.

        Richard placed his hand on his chin, stroking his dark-colored beard. "The accidents started about a month ago, beginning with Brandon James. I had just invited him into the house and we were heading to the kitchen for some beer. I suddenly heard something crash and when I looked back, I saw that he had been crushed by the chandelier." He sighed, shaking his head. "He was a good man. I had no problems with him." He sighed again. "I hate that he went out like that. It's a horrible demise."

        "Faulty screws is what the authorities told us about the cause of the chandelier taking a dive," Bianca stated, scoffing afterwards. "Faulty, my behind. Everything was working perfectly, up until that day. It's so strange how it just suddenly collapsed on top of him." She felt her father place his hand over hers and she relaxed a little. "With what happened to Blake Jordan a few weeks after that... It was just... Horrific." Tears formed in her eyes and the siblings shared a look with one another that the Davis' missed; Riley and Selena both had came to the conclusion that perhaps Bianca had liked the latter man.

        Richard began to explain Blake's death. "I had exited the garage for only a moment and I found his body on the floor. His head was on either side of the saw-blade." Then, he told them an important piece of information. "It wasn't on when I found him. I don't know who turned it off and I don't know how it turned on in the first place. We hadn't been using it. Faulty wiring had supposedly been the case, but I don't know. It's just so odd, but what else could it had been if not that?" His eyes started to fill with liquid as he began to recall his wife's supposed suicide. "And then... Bethany... My wife... She just..." He wasn't able to say more, his words getting caught in his throat. He buried his head in his hands, trying to keep his tears back. Bianca placed her hand on his shoulder and she released a few sniffles as droplets of her tears went down her cheeks.

        "I am incredibly sorry for your losses. I truly am," Selena responded gently, speaking up at last. A frown was her expression, but it wasn't  _just_  due to her being saddened by the scene she was witnessing; she was additionally frowning because she could tell that something wasn't adding up with their story. She believed that neither of them were responsible for the deaths, but she found it quite peculiar that they were still inside the house after all the incidents. She would've thought that the authorities would've accused one or both of them as potential suspects for the mysterious deaths, but they apparently hadn't, from what she could tell. "May I ask why you two remain here?" she questioned them. Unfortunately, she hadn't realized that she was making a mistake because an actual FBI agent would've known the answer already.

        After moving his hands away from his face, Richard gave her a questioning look. "We're placed under house arrest until everything's sorted out." Therefore, the police  _did_  suspect them as potential culprits. Almost everything made much more sense because of that fact, sorta. However, one would believe that the authorities would have had the common sense of placing the suspects somewhere that wasn't a crime scene where three people died. "I would've thought that you'd known that."

        "We did," Riley quickly stated. "Well,  _I_  did. I must've forgotten to mention it to my partner here. I'm so sorry about that." She stood from her seat and once again, Selena followed suit. "Thank you for telling us all that you know. If you don't mind, we'd like to take a look around before we leave, just to be sure that nothing was overlooked." After receiving a nod of approval from Bianca and Richard, the sibling hunters left the living room and they slowly started searching the entirety of the household. They looked everywhere for anything out of the ordinary, but they continuously came up with nothing. If they were more experienced hunters, they probably would've already found something but they were stuck with few gadgets that wouldn't do them much good in their situation. Their search eventually lead them to the attic, the place where the supposed suicide occurred.

        Riley released a loud huff of breath, displeased that they were empty-handed. "Nothing? Really? Are you fucking serious?" She threw her arms up in the air, her eyes on the ceiling for no apparent reason. "Fuck!" she exclaimed before she dropped her arms to her sides again. She groaned. "Man, we fucking suck ass at this shit. We're probably the worst amateurs in the history of hunters." She sighed as she rubbed the side of her head. "Alright... So, maybe we're idiots and this isn't a hunt at all. Maybe those two downstairs are actually psychopaths and the cops in this town are dumb as shit. That's all I've been able to come up with since we're just getting a whole bag of nothing in this goddamn house." She was very frustrated and she didn't see the point in continuing any further. Maybe she was right with her suggestion; maybe Bianca and Richard were lunatics. Being a hunter was much harder than she thought it would be.

        "I believe that they have lied to us about something, particularly the house arrest information they claimed," Selena said. "I did not see any signs of an ankle bracelet on either of them. It was easier to learn that Bianca is without one because she dresses similarly to Juliet." Juliet was always wearing revealing clothing and Bianca was wearing a black crop-top, a black skirt that barely went past her knees, and high-heeled black boots, the typical attire for someone that liked showing off too much skin. "Additionally, I could not find any signs of hidden microphones or cameras during our thorough search." She watched as her older sibling shrugged. "However, I did find out one thing." She removed her hand from underneath her blazer, revealing an EMF meter; it was lightening up like a Christmas tree inside that room. "Like it or not, this certainly is a hunt."

        Riley shared an unamused look with her. "You know, you could've told me that you had that. You made me rant for absolutely fucking nothing." She stared at the EMF meter. "So, a spirit, huh?" she questioned. Her sibling nodded shortly and she nodded back in return. "Alright. First things first, we have to figure out who Casper is. Secondly, we need to find their bones. Finally, we need to salt and burn those motherfucking bones." Out of all things, their first hunt was dealing around something that they knew they could handle; that one time with the demon that murdered their previous car, that didn't count cause they had literally ran into that bitch before shit went to Hell and those several times with Mara didn't count either cause they secretly had their doubts. Point of the matter was that they finally knew that they could handle something abnormal. Riley crossed her arms as she looked around the small attic. "That still doesn't explain why they lied about being under house arrest."

        With a frown on her face, Selena stared at her. "I believe that it is possible the police told them to remain here, just not under house arrest." She hesitated for a moment before she spoke again. "...I do not see why they would tell them that when each death occurred here. They would had chosen a better location for them to remain at, not this place. Perhaps they had lied about that, too." She knew there had to be some sort of explanation behind it. She just couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was.

        Riley just shrugged. "Maybe since they're rich, they bribed the shit outta the cops so that they'd leave them alone. Or maybe they just couldn't bare to leave this place behind. I, for one, would've left in an instant cause fuck this shit. If I wasn't trying to be a hunter, I would be long gone from this place already. Ghosts don't fuck around. I'm sure we'll nail this, though."

        Nodding her head shortly, Selena replied to her. "I agree with the first suggestion that you made because it makes the most sense. However, perhaps they bribed the authorities to merely avoid having to leave this house, which means I agree with your second suggestion, too." Pausing for a moment, she thought about the topic some more. "...There is one additional possibility of why they haven't left. Maybe they aren't allowed to. What I mean by that is perhaps the spirit is holding them here." Spirits were allowed to do a lot of things, so it was likely that the spirit was able to keep the family from leaving. Although, there were just too many possibilities for why the family hadn't left. Did the family know about the spirit within their home? Were they protecting it? Were they just trying to deal with it on their own? Were they accepting their fates by doing nothing?

        "That also," Riley said as she nodded in agreement. She released a sigh, something that she was probably gonna do very often in her life. "We have some research to do when we get back to the motel." She shook her head in annoyance. "Man, I hate this shit already. If I had known that becoming a hunter would mean I'd have to do a shit load of work, I would've fucking said hell no." A little research wouldn't hurt anyone; bore them to death, maybe, but never harm, probably. She knew that they couldn't just turn back after choosing their new lifestyle; she knew that they couldn't give up so easily because they only had just begun their new life. They just needed to get a handle on things and time would surely help them with that. She strolled by her younger sibling, heading towards the ladder. "Come on. We've got work to do."

**~October 7th, 2003; Denton, Texas~**

        A brand new day had arrived and the hunting half-siblings were nowhere close to learning the identity of the spirit they were tracking. The previous night, the two of them had been wide awake, searching endlessly for any information about someone who passed away in the past year, or at any year within that area, and they only came up with blanks. Apparently, no one had died in that area in ten years, which was kind of a shocker since people die everyday from absolutely anything. The only piece of information they had found was of a death that happened centuries beforehand but why would a spirit from long ago just suddenly attack people in the modern century? That just wouldn't make any lick of sense, so it surely wasn't a century old ghost. By the time morning had arrived, the siblings had still been empty-handed.

        After becoming frustrated by all the lack of information, Riley suggested to Selena that maybe one of them needed to check the house again whilst the other continued with trying to find something through more research. Despite her frustrations with the research, she (Riley) had chosen to remain in the motel room because her negative emotions probably would fuck up their mission; if she showed her aggravation in front of the Davis family, they'd likely would've figured out that neither sibling was a FBI agent. Because of Riley's decision to remain behind, Selena was forced to drive their death machine to the Davis household. Honestly, she wasn't very fond of driving any car but the case demanded it, so she did it. Luckily, she had been taught how to drive by Riley a few years beforehand but nonetheless, she still hated doing it. She drove to the household slowly because she didn't want to risk getting caught in a wreckage and she eventually made it there in one piece. After explaining herself to Richard (by creating a necessary lie), she was allowed into the household again.

        Room after room, Selena continued to come up empty. There just wasn't a sign of anything amiss within the house; there were no clues laying around anywhere. Nothing at all could be found. She was growing to the point where she was tempted to just ask the family if anyone they knew had died within the house, but she knew that wouldn't exactly end well, considering she was already supposed to know that information (thanks to the fake FBI persona). However, she was running out of options and that was her last resort if she continued to find nothing of importance inside the building. As she searched through the second level, she recalled all the boxes that she and Riley had seen inside the attic the previous day. Maybe one of them held some sort of clue to the matter at hand.

        Shortly after she made sure that Bianca and Richard were still located downstairs, Selena made her way towards the attic. However, just as she reached up to pull down the ladder, she suddenly heard the sound of running water. Becoming distracted, she headed towards where the noise was coming from, thinking that maybe Bianca had came up the stairs without her knowledge. She reached the location of the sound and she noticed a door that was cracked open. She approached it and she gently pushed forward, causing the door to open further. At a slow pace, she entered the bathroom where a tub was filling up with water. She stared at it for a moment in confusion before she realized, a moment too late, that she had made a terrible mistake. She turned around quickly in an attempt to walk out, but the bathroom door slammed shut in her face. She was trapped in there with the spirit.

        Attempting to use her telekinesis to force the door back open, she was suddenly forced backwards; she was being pushed closer to the tub of water by the unseen figure. Easily losing her balance, she fell right into the tub like the spirit wanted. As she attempted to escape from the nearly overflowing bathtub, her head was suddenly forced underwater and she struggled greatly to get her head back above it. With the little time she had before she would ultimately drown, she stopped struggling to focus her mind on just the water itself. Soon, the water was pooling  _around_  her face and not against it; she was keeping herself alive, thanks to her limited power over the element. She was silently thanking the stars that she had that power or she would've been a goner. She roughly coughed out the water that had entered her mouth.

        Shortly thereafter, Selena realized that she was no longer being forced down and she immediately removed herself from the bathtub, completely soaked in water. The spirit had left her alone unexpectedly and one of two things must've happened to cause such an event; either it had noticed that Selena wasn't entirely normal or it had assumed that it drowned her. Regardless of whichever possibility, the ghost wasn't in that room with her anymore. As she continued to recover from the assault (that she should've expected sooner), she heard a sudden feminine scream coming from downstairs. Rushing outta the bathroom in wet clothing, she raced down the stairs and soon found Bianca crying hysterically over the corpse of Richard, his body ripped to shreds. Selena's eyes widened at the sight because she didn't think that the spirit was capable of doing such a thing that quickly, especially since it had been attacking her just moments before.

        Seconds later, Selena pulled out her phone and she immediately attempted to call Riley for help, but her cell wasn't operating correctly. In fact, it appeared as if it was dead because it wouldn't turn on. It most likely had been damaged by water when she was pinned inside the tub. "That most certainly cannot be good," she commented, speaking softly to herself. She was gonna have to deal with the mess by herself. She didn't have any backup and her powers most definitely wouldn't work against the spirit, but she could certainly keep herself alive if/when she was attacked by the ghost again. Although, she'd have to protect Bianca, too. Things weren't really looking too good for either of them.

        Bianca released another loud sob. "He's dead! My Father! He-He just-! He-He ripped apart right in front of me!" She cried loudly as she stared at the bloody mess on the floor. She looked over at Selena, quickly noticing that she was soaking wet. "W-Why are you soaked in water?! What the hell is going on here?! Am I going insane?!" She didn't know what to think; she felt delirious and sane, all at once. She wanted to believe that she was just seeing things, but she knew what she had just witnessed. It couldn't be a dream, but she really wished it was one. Hell, she wanted to pretend she was asleep but she was too scared outta her mind to do so. Also, she was confused by everything; she had never witnessed anything like that in her life, which was why she wished that she was either dreaming or going nuts. Whatever that had been, it was impossible and yet she had seen it occur. She was getting closer and closer to having a nervous breakdown. Maybe she was already having one.

        Selena looked towards Bianca and she hesitated to speak up. She wasn't sure how to explain everything without making her freak out further. "...I cannot explain the situation right now. We are in serious danger at the moment." She tossed her cellphone to the ground without a care (it was broken so...) and she completely turned towards Bianca. She didn't see the point in withholding her questions anymore, seeing that the girl had seen some unnatural shit. "Has anyone passed away in this area recently, preferably inside this house? My sister, the woman you saw me with yesterday, and I were unable to uncover any information that could help us solve this mystery and my final resort is to ask you."

        Bianca stared at Selena with confusion and fear written all over her expression. She was far more terrified than she had been originally because of Selena informing her that they were in serious danger. Sniffling, she struggled to give her the information she was seeking. "Uh, well, t-the only death I can think of is my older sister, Cordelia. She fell down the stairs and broke her neck. This was a few months ago, before the accidents started." She wasn't yelling anymore, but she wasn't speaking in a calm tone either. She still didn't know what the hell was going on, but apparently the information she told was meant to be helpful. Almost immediately afterwards, she started getting loud again as she cried more. "Why do you need to know this?! How will this help us?! What kind of danger are we in?! Why did I see my father get ripped to shreds by nothing but the air?! Why haven't you told me what's going on?!" She was freaking the hell out again, like any normal person would.

        "As I had said, I cannot explain the situation right now," Selena answered in a calm tone. She glanced around the room, waiting for any sudden sign of Cordelia's spirit returning. "Did anyone witness her death?" she asked as she kept close to Bianca. She felt like things were finally adding up, but she also felt like a few details were missing. She had a strange feeling that she knew what had happened, but she needed to be certain. "Did she speak of anything before she died? Did she act unusual?" Her thoughts about it were simple; she believed that Cordelia had been murdered by her witnesses and the only reason for her being back as a spirit was because she wanted revenge against them all. If, by any chance, she was wrong and Cordelia hadn't been murdered, then something else had placed her on the path of vengeance.

        Bianca closed her teary eyes for a single moment, recalling the event almost immediately. She attempted to speak as calmly as Selena had, but she couldn't relax. "Uh, y-yeah. Yes, both Blake and Brandon witnessed her death. B-Before it happened, s-she had an outburst during a family dinner and the two of them were there as guests. She, um... S-She..." She stared at Selena with a serious look, sniffling once again. She seemed to calm down a bit. "She went on and on about how they had raped her just a few hours before the dinner. I didn't believe her; I thought she was just being an attention whore. Our parents dismissed what she said as unimportant and they told her to shut up because they didn't care if she was telling the truth or not. You see, Blake and Brandon were as wealthy as us. Our parents didn't want a rivalry to begin." Cruelty was a common thing in the world; the rich could easily turn on their own to appease others of their stature. Bianca brought her hands together, in front of her face, and she shook her head furiously. "Oh, God. How could they say something like that to her?"

        Grabbing Bianca's hand and pulling her along, Selena headed towards the front door with haste. "Your sister has returned as a darkened spirit because she had been murdered by those rapists and I can understand that entirely. However, she killed your parents because neither of them had cared about her truth and she's likely to come after you next for the same reason." Releasing a sigh, she continued. "Everyone has a right to chose what they want to believe, what they wish didn't exist, and how they want to live. I suppose she had a slightly better reasoning for killing your parents since they were far more uncaring about the situation, but nonetheless, she shouldn't had slaughtered them because of their poor judgement. You didn't believe her either, but I know you did such for a whole different reason. You had a crush on one of them. Blake, to be more precise." She didn't get a reply from Bianca, so she took her silence as a yes. Reaching the front door, she attempted to open it but it didn't budge. With slight frustration at having that happen again, she waved her free hand to attempt opening it with her main power, but that didn't work either. "It appears we cannot leave."

        "Wait. She attacked you like she did with everyone else, didn't she? That's why you're soaked in water, right?" Bianca asked. She stared at Selena as she trembled in fear. "Why is she t-trying to hurt you, too? You didn't do anything to her." She was unable to grasp everything about the situation, but she felt that something was odd about her deceased sibling going after someone she hadn't met whilst she was still alive.

        "I am interfering with her unfinished business," Selena answered without hesitation. She began to search through the first story, keeping her hand connected with Bianca's. "I will have to place you inside a circle of salt. When I do, you cannot exit it under any circumstance. It will keep you safe from your sister." She walked over to the fireplace in the living room and she picked up an iron fire-poker. "Iron keeps spirits at bay, too, but not for very long."

        "What are you? Who are you? How do you know all of these things?" Bianca asked. Suddenly, a loud bang came from nearby them and she screamed at the top of her lungs, clinging onto Selena tightly as she looked towards where the sound had been made. Both of the women released a breath, fog appearing as air exited their parted mouths. "Oh, God! She's back!" she exclaimed. "She's gonna kill us!"

        Selena held up the iron fire-poker, holding it towards where the noise had been. She made zero movements to make Bianca release her since she didn't mind; if she were entirely normal, she'd had reacted that way, too. "Where is Cordelia buried?" she questioned. Although she would be unable to exit that house, she wanted to be informed of the location. She was hoping that Riley would show up; that way, she could just yell out the location to avoid all of them getting trapped inside the building.

        "Nowhere," Bianca answered. "She was cremated and her ashes are spread across our backyard." She gulped. "You're distracting me, aren't you? You can't really do anything, can you? You just want me distracted so that I'm not focused on dying. Well, it's not working." She released a whimper as she started sobbing again. "We're gonna die! I'm too pretty to die! I'm far too young to die like this! I haven't even had sex yet! I can't die a virgin! Virgins are supposed to be the ones that live in the end!" she cried into Selena's arm, causing the hunter to grimace from discomfort. Of all the information in the world, she (Selena) didn't need to hear any of that because it certainly wasn't any of her business to know about it.

        Selena spoke in an uneven tone, remaining uncomfortable. "Do you, by any chance, have something that was precious to her? Something preferably inside this household? Because that is our final option." If the object was somewhere out of her reach, the two of them were toast.

        "Her ribbon!" Bianca exclaimed, unable to keep quiet or calm. "She wore it everyday! Some of her hair is still tangled around it! It's-It's upstairs, in my bedroom! On the dresser!" Selena grimaced again; how in the hell was she gonna get there and protect Bianca at the same time? She still could place Bianca in a ring of salt, but the spirit could easily find a way to get though it. She couldn't risk leaving her behind. They'd have to travel up the stairs together and she'd just protect her along the way. That probably wouldn't work out well for either of them, but that was their best shot.

        Before either of them could head in the direction of the staircase, they were forced apart by the spirit of Cordelia. They were unable to catch a glimpse of the vengeful ghost as she threw them across the living room in two different directions. Selena crashed against the wall harshly, landing on the floor with a very audible grunt shortly afterwards as she additionally dropped the iron fire-poker. Bianca landed roughly on the couch and the piece of furniture fell backwards on impact, bringing her down with it. Selena quickly stood up as she immediately spotted a variety of objects suddenly flying towards Bianca. Without a moment of hesitation, she waved her right hand frantically as she prevented each object from hitting the young woman. Seconds after she successfully protected Bianca, she was tossed towards the wall again and her back hit against it in another rough manner but she didn't hit the ground that time. Instead, she quickly felt the sensation of someone's hands wrapping around her neck and she started to struggle with breathing.

        As she desperately fought to become free, Cordelia's spirit finally manifested. She was incredibly pale, like any ghost would be, and her eyes were a pale shade of blue. Her roughed-up pale-blonde hair was surprisingly styled in a similar manner to how Riley used to style hers. Upon further inspection, one could clearly notice that her neck was oddly crooked and she appeared to be permanently tilting her head towards the right. She was glaring at Selena as she continued to choke her, displeased with her constant disturbances. " _Whoever you are, you can't stop me! No one can stop me! I will have my revenge! All that were involved will die! They all must die!"_

        Selena continued with struggling to breathe as she fought harder to break free from Cordelia's grip. Without warning, the spirit vanished from sight as the iron fire-poker slashed through her. Placing a hand onto her neck, Selena gasped for air as she pushed herself away from the wall. She stared at her savior; Riley stood in front of her, her arms remaining raised as she glanced around the room for the spirit, ready to attack again. After coughing for a moment, Selena spoke up. "Glad to see you," she gasped out. She didn't know how Riley had gotten there without the car, nor did she know how her older sibling had even gotten inside the house, but she didn't really care because thanks to Riley, she was still in the land of the living. "Thank you."

        "My instincts had been telling me that you were in danger," Riley told her. "So, I stole a truck and drove here. The door was really hard to get through, but it was nothing that a boot couldn't fix." She had kicked down the door; amazingly, Bianca and Selena hadn't heard that happen but they had been busy at the time, so that was probably why. She looked around the room again and she spotted Bianca getting up from the floor. She jogged over to the woman, staying alert. "You alright?" Riley asked. Bianca nodded quickly and it was clear that she had become terrified further. Selena strode over to their location and she constantly glanced towards the staircase. "Go," Riley instructed her when she noticed her sibling's behavior. "I'll protect Bianca. You go find whatever it is that'll get rid of this bitch and you better fucking hurry." Her younger sister nodded before she sprinted towards the stairs, ignoring the aches she was feeling as she did such.

        Riley kept Bianca at her side as she made the two of them turn in circles. Neither of them knew when, or where, Cordelia would show up. It didn't take very long before the spirit in question showed herself to them again and she was easily sent away by Riley once more. However, Cordelia reappeared a lot quicker than Riley had been anticipating and she was forced to slash away at the spirit constantly. Eventually, the vengeful ghost threw the annoying hunter against a wall with ease, causing her to accidentally release her hold on the iron poker. Riley landed violently on a desk before she landed abruptly onto the floor as the furniture collapsed beneath her. "Ouch," she mumbled as she attempted to stand again. However, she glanced upwards and Cordelia was standing right there, ready to pounce at her. Before the spirit could make a move to kill her, she vanished as the fire poker sliced through her again from behind; Bianca had saved Riley's life. Within seconds, the hunter was standing on her feet again and she grinned at her rescuer. "Okay, I'm not gonna lie. That was pretty damn hot. You know, maybe you should kick some ghost ass more often. You'd be an awesome hunter." Bianca took the compliment with a half-smile.

        Upstairs, Selena had already gone through multiple bedrooms as she tried to locate the ribbon, but she hadn't been having much luck with finding it. However, she eventually entered the bedroom that belonged to Bianca and the ribbon was laying on the dresser, waiting to be taken. She sprinted towards it but as she reached for it, she was sent flying into the nightstand; Cordelia had decided to join her. Growing tired with being thrown into things, she simply used her power to make the ribbon come towards her instead and she gripped onto it tightly. Quickly standing up, she dodged multiple objects that were abruptly heading towards her and she ran out of the bedroom, sprinting down the hallway and towards the staircase. As soon as she reached the top of the stairs, Cordelia manifested behind her and the spirit pushed her forwards, making her tumble all the way down. Fortunately, Selena survived the ordeal and the spirit released a shriek of rage.

        As Selena stood up from the floor, Bianca and Riley started running towards her. She limped towards them for a second before stopping, letting them meet up with her instead because her leg was really bothering her, especially when she moved it. "Please tell me that you either found some salt and a lighter or have brought both with you," she said as she held out the ribbon. Otherwise, that had been a complete waste of her time.

        Riley held up a bag of salt. She didn't have a lighter with her, but she didn't actually need one. "You shouldn't doubt me, darling sister," she said. "Next time, I'm just leaving your ass to fend for yourself." She didn't really mean that last part, though. Taking the ribbon from Selena quickly, she dashed the salt onto the object and, after throwing the empty bag aside, she gripped onto it tightly as she set it on fire with her powers. Just as she was doing that, Cordelia presented herself before them, knives flying out of the kitchen behind her and the items flew past her, heading towards the three living beings. "Hasta La Vista, Bitch!" Riley exclaimed. The flying knives stopped in their trail, dropping to the floor as Cordelia burst into flames with a scream. Within seconds, she disappeared permanently and the three living females sighed in relief...

**~October 7th, 2003; Denton, Texas~**

        Standing outside by Riley's car, the three females stared at the nearby ambulance as Richard's corpse was being placed into it. Before that very moment, the three had spoken with the authorities, sharing a similar lie about how the sisters (Riley and Selena) had only been visiting when someone broke into the house and attacked them; they had some trouble with explaining how Richard had died but everything ended well. So, the three of them were just silently watching the paramedics, and the police, do their thing; two of the medical professionals had even checked Selena and they had let her know that nothing was sprained or broken, just badly bruised.

        Directing her attention towards the hunters that saved her ass, Bianca smiled slightly at them. "I guess I should share my thanks. You know, for you two saving my tail in there." She glanced away from them, looking at her hands as she became somewhat bashful. "So, thank you. Really, thank you so much. I probably would be dead right now if it weren't for you both." Her smile faded as she thought about her family members (her parents) that didn't survive the ordeal. "I wish you could've saved us all, but you did what you could and I won't fault you for it." Most of her family was deceased, apart from her relatives that lived elsewhere. She'd likely move in with them or just move away in general because she wanted nothing more with that house. She looked back up at them, half-smiling as tears entered her eyes. "I know that you tried your best to keep my dad and I safe, but don't blame yourself for what happened to him. At least, you had managed to rescue me. Because of you two, I'm still here. So, thanks again for everything."

        Riley smirked and chuckled while Selena simply nodded with a grin. "Yeah, we heard you the first few times you thanked us," the older half-sibling replied. "You're very welcome, doll-face." She crossed her arms. "So, do you mind giving us the honor of revealing the  _real_  reason why you didn't leave the house? We know it wasn't because of a house arrest. We're not exactly stupid, like most people." She saw no problem with being direct about it; nothing inside had added up to the Davis family being under house arrest.

        Looking down again, Bianca sighed. "Dad paid the cops to keep quiet about everything. He wanted to prevent an investigation from starting up because he didn't want our reputation to falter further." She looked back up at the sisters again. "I told him that it was a stupid idea, but right now, I'm kinda glad he settled things that way." Perhaps, if her father hadn't done that, more casualties could've happened.

        "We thought that was a possibility," Selena commented. "We just had not been completely certain."

        Bianca nodded and she looked towards Riley with a smile. When the hunter stared at her with a questioning look, she took a step closer to the wondering female. She leaned forward and planted a kiss on Riley's lips, getting a simple peck in return. Moving away, she smiled again. "Okay, I'm not gonna lie," she began, repeating what Riley had said to her earlier. "I really hope that I'll see you again someday." That simple kiss and those words were enough to show that she was attracted to Riley, but it was likely because of the woman saving her life; some people tended to be awestruck by those that did something to gain their respect and attention. That was likely why she wasn't terrified of the siblings, considering she had witnessed them both doing things that weren't possible.

        "Hell yeah, you will," Riley responded with another smirk on her face. Originally, she hadn't given a shit about coming back to see the girl but after that kissing action, she kinda had changed her mind about that. Perhaps, if she returned someday, they'd do more than just smooch a little. She wasn't particularly attracted to her, though; she was just horny for some hotness.

        Selena rolled her eyes at her sibling's comment and she spoke honestly to Bianca, not wishing to give her any sort of false hope because it was likely that they'd never return to that area. "What my sibling meant to say is that she will try to visit, but currently, the two of us are on a road trip and it's one that involves us handling dangerous matters that are not natural, much like with what happened inside." Basically, she was telling the kind young woman that they were gonna be busy for a long while. Bianca frowned at the information, but she nodded in understanding. Selena approached her and she placed a hand on the young woman's shoulder. "Take care of yourself. Live life to the fullest. I am certain that you will no longer encounter situations like this. Farewell." With that, she turned away from Bianca and she walked around the vehicle, getting into the passenger's seat.

        Sharing a quick goodbye with Bianca, Riley entered the driver's seat of her vehicle as Bianca headed back towards the house. She glanced over at Selena and immediately sighed when she realized that her younger sibling was staring at her. "Stop doing that. I've told you plenty of times; it's not nice to stare at people. Especially hotheaded ones named Riley." Her sister continued to stare at her, regardless, and she sighed once more. "Okay, what is it? Is there a new reason for why you're staring at me?"

        "You moved on very fast," Selena remarked. After what had happened to Brian, she hadn't expected for Riley to be so quick with trying to bed someone else. "I would have thought that it would take several more months before you could simply flirt with someone like that again."

        Riley gave her an unamused look. "Selena, it's not like I was planning on asking the girl out; one night stands happen naturally with me, when I'm not dating anyone, and I'm sorta interested in having one with her but I'm aware that's unlikely. Also, for your information, I haven't moved on yet, thank you very much. If I had, I wouldn't be wearing his necklace still." She held out her hand and Selena immediately handed over the keys to the car. "Flirting just happens to be my coping mechanism and it serves as a really great distraction. Most days," Riley added before she started the vehicle. In response to that, Selena released a sound of disgust as her older sibling pulled out of the driveway. Soon, they were driving down the road towards a new, and random, destination...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1) For starters, this first thing right here that I'm currently typing isn't a trivia thingy but rather a note from myself. I apologize if the chapter seemed too rushed (aka, it got into the action too soon). In my opinion, it seems perfect because ghosts are unpredictable (that meaning shit could happen at any given moment) and inexperienced people tend to be reckless or impatient with things. Plus, I just simply wanted to show them on their first official hunt as amateurs or noobs. If the dialogue seems like shit, sorry but not sorry because the dialogue that isn't for Riley and Selena (after scene three and a half) is meant to be that way. Kinda for comic relief, though I probably failed miserably with that.
> 
> 2) I realized a plot hole and immediately fixed it via an explanation within the beginning of this chapter. Brian, Christi, Emily, and Ryan's disappearances definitely couldn't just go unnoticed. So, I mentioned the cops coming to see the sisters at their home and I mentioned the corpses of Brian, and Emily, being found. Obviously, with the girls just suddenly leaving with not much of what they had and with the fact that Christi, and Ryan, would never be returning to work because they are dead and what not, the cops would definitely know that something was up eventually and the girls will be considered criminals when that time arrives. Additionally, I didn't mention one thing during that little explaining thing just now; Selena's blood was found at the crime scene because of her beat-down, which means that eventually, the cops will know she was there and they will be searching for her (though, they are likely to be unsure if she was either another victim or the murderer but she's a suspect regardless; we know the truth, though). Although, it will be a while before the sisters deal with cops that know of their identity as supposed on-the-run murderers. I suppose it is still considered a plot hole but what doesn't have plot holes and at least it isn't a bigger plot hole than what it could had been, am I right?
> 
> 3) J.J. Jareau is a character in Criminal Minds. Selena Perez is a singer, which I've mentioned in a previous trivia section. Just telling ya this because of the FBI namesake that happened in this chapter. Always nice to know some actual facts and not just some important information to remember, yeah? You love me. Blake Jordan is actually a character in my upcoming original book. Perhaps you'd like to read that when it's out. It's completely fine if you do not. Furthermore, Riley said "we've got work to do" and that's a reference to the Pilot, when Sam Winchester says those words at the end. Lastly, Hasta La Vista is a reference to Terminator 2.
> 
> 4) Honestly and obviously, I withheld some information about Immortals/Immortal Beings from all of you. Didn't want to just give you everything all at once, you know? The last bits of information about them will not be revealed until a later original chapter (which isn't too far away, actually). What you learnt from them this chapter was that they can sense when their family member has died but they cannot sense other Immortal Beings outside the family when they die because they aren't connected to each other in some way.
> 
> 5) Thus far, you have only witnessed Riley's Pyrokinesis, along with Selena's Telekinesis and Hydrokinesis (her elemental use of water). But no worries because by the time we hit chapter ten, all of their powers will have been seen, probably. However, I will reveal that you will be seeing more of Riley's Pyrokinesis and Selena's Telekinesis than their other powers throughout this fanfiction because I don't want them to seem overpowered, which they aren't because their other powers are very limited and they rarely will use them. Depending on what occurs throughout this story, their powers may be seen more often or less often.
> 
> 6) When outfits aren't mentioned within a chapter (for Riley, Selena, Dean, and Sam), they are wearing what was previously stated that they were wearing (if that made any lick of sense cause I still can't word shit great). Just a head's up for you all.


	4. No Woman In White (For You)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Uncertain if they should take on the 'Woman in White' case, the half-sister hunters (Riley Piers and Selena Grant) unknowingly, and separately, encounter two hunter brothers that will eventually change their lives forever.
> 
> Spoiler Alert (Not Really): the half-sisters don't take the case, which is why the chapter is called what it's called. Sorry, but the brothers are still keeping that case to themselves and I also didn't exactly know how to add in the half-siblings to the entirety of the pilot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Original and Unoriginal Content/Dialogue, Errors of Any Kind, Instant Two-Year Time-Skip, Insensitive Mannerism, One-Scene Chapter, Unoriginal Character Introductions, Some Shitty Dialogue, Difficulty With Some Descriptions of Character Appearances, Small Possibility of Incorrect Information, Possibility of Out-of-Character Moments, Medium Possibility of Unrealistic and Realistic Actions/Reactions, Beginning of a Wonderful Journey That I Hope I Continue And Complete
> 
> Dean and Sam Winchester have finally arrived inside this fanfiction. However, their appearance is really short, basically a little cameo, and the chapter itself is one of the shortest chapters I've created thus far, more or less; I'm probably correct. This is the only chapter, with the Winchester brothers, that will be quite short. The next chapter, involving just the half-sisters like previous chapters, will be just about as short as this one, most likely. Additionally and completely off the topic, I will not be putting up the ages anymore in the cast below (as I stated in a previous chapter). All you really needed to know was who was playing who and you can easily imagine a younger or older version of them, based on whatever age I mention within future chapters (if I even remember to mention an age). Thought that would be easier for you guys (it's easier for me, definitely, cause I quickly grew tired of adding the ages beside the names).
> 
> Nina Dobrev as Selena Grant  
> Hayden Panettiere as Riley Piers  
> Sarah Wayne Callies as Leslie Swan

_Someone take these dreams away_  
_That point me to another day_  
_A duel of personalities_  
_That stretch all true realities_

_(Dead Souls : Joy Division)_

* * *

**~November 1st, 2005; Jericho, California~**

        Roughly two years had passed by since Riley Piers and Selena Grant finished their first official hunt. As those years went by, the half-siblings became pretty decent hunters; they had dealt with plenty of cases that involved the supernatural, such as a few more spirits, occasional demons, and a variety of multiple of creatures, and the two of them saved the lives of many innocent bystanders, more often than not. Occasionally as a result of being rescued (and depending on the person), a potential victim of either gender would give Riley either a smooch or a good time as an award; Selena, on the other hand, simply got hugs from time-to-time and nothing more, not that it bothered her. However, regardless of their many successful hunts, the half-sisters still had much to learn about being hunters and they had many more creatures to hunt down.

        Driving down the road in her same ol' white Audi TT, Riley stared at the road ahead of her. There was complete silence within the vehicle, the stereo being shut off, and Selena was somehow sleeping soundlessly in the passenger's seat as the breeze brushed against their faces gently. The older sibling was thinking about the case in Jericho, the place they were heading towards at that very moment, and she glanced at her younger sister as her thoughts about the hunt continued. The two of them had learnt about the many missing men in that area and both had came to the conclusion that perhaps the creature was a Woman in White, a female that had taken her own life (after killing her children beforehand) because of her lover being unfaithful to her and as a vengeful spirit, she wished to cause harm to anyone who was proven unfaithful. Unfortunately, it was highly likely that the sibling hunters wouldn't be taking the case because after Selena had a few encounters with spirits, she developed a great fear of them and that phobia often caused them trouble whenever they attempted to handle hunts that involved ghosts.

        Selena groaned as she slowly awakened from her slumber, opening her eyes after a moment. Yawning, she groggily looked around at their surroundings. As her vision began to focus, she released a long sigh; she had hoped that Riley wouldn't still be driving when she woke up but unfortunately, the ride wasn't over. Shortly afterwards, her anxieties returned; she never enjoyed riding in that vehicle and she certainly wasn't looking forward to dealing with another spirit. It wasn't her fault that she developed a phobia for ghosts. Whenever they handled a case involving spirits, she was the one that was  _almost_  always getting hurt. Hell, she was often the one that got hurt during most of their cases but she only ended up developing a fear towards ghosts. She wasn't sure why she feared them so much, but she hoped that the phobia would go away with time; she had tried facing her fear head-on multiple times, but it never seemed to work out and it only made matters worse for her in the end.

        "So? How'd ya sleep?" Riley immediately asked, glancing over at her younger sibling again. She had to admit, she was a little worried about Selena. She continued to drive slowly through the town she had only just entered. "Did you dream of something nice or whatever?" she asked. She was trying to distract her sibling from her anxieties.

        Selena nodded shortly. However, Riley didn't actually see her do so because her attention was focused on the road again. "Indeed, I did. I dreamt that you had turned the vehicle around and that you put the retractable roof back up. Unfortunately, I opened my eyes and I quickly came to realize that we are still gonna deal with a spirit. Additionally, I am still stuck inside this death machine that you call a car." She looked towards Riley with a frown and she continued to speak seriously. "I do not wish to continue further than this. I just cannot go through this mess again." She was referring to her phobia that developed; her growing anxiety was gonna make her chances of dying much greater than usual and additionally, because she'd likely freeze in fear again, her older sibling was gonna have to do all the work on her own again. She didn't want that to happen. "You were nearly killed the last few times because of my growing cowardliness."

        "Let bygones be bygones, Selena," Riley replied. "You can't help it that you've somehow gained this phobia." She released a sigh as she glanced towards Selena once more before she quickly looked back towards the road ahead. "You know, I would've thought that your idea would work wonders, facing your fear head-on, but none of those times worked out very well for either of us. All it seemed to do was make your fear far worse than it was to begin with. I don't understand it one bit." She sighed again as she continued driving. "Look, we don't have to work this case if you don't want to but first, we should find out if someone else is working it so that no more innocent... Okay, they aren't innocent but still, we need to make sure that no one else goes missing and we'll do that by putting another hunter on the job." She kinda repeated herself there, but she still managed to get her point across.

        Humming, Selena answered. "I understand that much, Riley. You did not have to tell me." She glanced away from Riley, looking towards the road. She released another sigh before she spoke up again. "If there isn't anyone else on this case, I suppose I could try sucking it up and helping out in some manner, but I cannot make any promises. I potentially could freeze up in fright again..." She could potentially be the cause of them both dying someday. That was why she really wanted to face those fears of hers one day, sooner or later.

        "Well..." Riley thought for a moment as she caught sight of a diner in the distance. She started driving towards it. "Maybe you should distract yourself from that fear. Like, uh, you can think about how much it would suck ass if we were to die or, for a better example, you can think about how pissed off I'd be if you allowed me to fucking die. There have been plenty of times where you nearly let that happen and not once did I blame you for it, but I'll tell you right now that letting me actually die is the limit to my goddamn patience, Selena."

        Selena hesitated to ask her a question. "...I disappointed you, though, didn't I? You had that look in your eyes..." She continued to frown, disappointed with herself. "I really am sorry about all of that. Truly." She felt really guilty about nearly getting Riley killed various times, but she had been so terrified that she couldn't move a muscle, which caused herself to be endangered, too. Despite that she herself was the most vulnerable during those times of fright, the spirits often went after Riley instead of simply finishing her off; perhaps she was considered too weak to be worth killing so easily. Selena wanted to make-up for it, somehow. She felt pathetic. Never did she think that she'd develop a fear that would render her immobile.

        "..." Riley exhaled deeply before she started rambling. "I've already forgiven you, Selena. Look, some people just can't handle facing their fears and you, sadly, happen to be one of those people. Someday, hopefully soon, you'll be strong enough to face these fears of yours and maybe then, we won't have problems anymore but I guess that's just wishful thinking since there's always gonna be some sort of problem regardless." She was very understanding of her sister's phobia (most of the time), but she knew when enough was enough; the next time they'd deal with a spirit, if Selena froze up in fear again, Riley was gonna kick her ass and give her something else to be scared of. However, just cause that problem would be taken care of eventually, it didn't mean that other problems wouldn't arise someday. "I still can't believe that someone like you can have a stupid fear like that. I mean, you're so different from everyone else and I'm not talking about that whole Immortality thingy you've got going on; I'm talking about your personality. It's so... You're very mature and kindhearted for someone your age, and you've always been that way, from what I'm aware of anyways, and I kinda thought that, since you're so different, you'd be able to fight through that fear. I guess everyone reacts differently towards these sorts of things." She drove into the parking lot of the diner she had spotted and she parked the vehicle. "I'm hungry, so let's just forget about all that shit and enjoy some good food."

        The sisters exited the vehicle and they headed towards the entrance of the diner, walking side-by-side. Along the way, a variety of catcalls were made by inappropriate young men; in response, Selena avoided eye contact (because she was uncomfortable) whilst Riley gave the men a flirtatious wink (because she couldn't blame them for whistling since the two of them were pretty damn fine). It was actually very likely that the men were only catcalling Riley because while Selena was wearing a simple, but cute, attire (consisting of a blue denim jacket, a cute brown and white blouse, blue jeans, and white converse shoes), the older sibling was wearing an outfit (consisting of a black leather jacket, gray t-shirt, blue jeans, and black converse shoes) that made her seem a bit more desirable; however, maybe Riley just had the  _right_   _look_  since the outfits weren't that different from each other.

        The sisters entered the diner, heading towards one of several empty booths. As they ordered their food and soon started eating, they were completely unaware of the arrival of two handsome male hunters. The first brother had green eyes, light freckles on his face (and likely more along his body), the height of six one, and short-cropped ivy-league dark-blonde hair, and he was wearing a dark shirt underneath a plaid shirt that was underneath a dark-colored coat, additionally wearing some blue jeans, an amulet around his neck, and some worn dark-colored shoes; his name was Dean Winchester. The second brother had hazel eyes, the height of six four, and shaggy brown hair, and he was attired in a blueish-purple shirt that was underneath two layers of jackets, additionally wearing some blue jeans that appeared worn and some light-colored shoes; his name was Sam Winchester and he was Dean's younger sibling. The two men weren't alone as they headed into the diner, two young scene-looking females following behind them. The four of them moved to sit in the booth that was just behind the half-sisters, but the sisters paid no attention to them.

        While the hunting brothers and the females with them ordered some drinks, the half-sisters were finishing up the food they had ordered sometime earlier. Selena had a frown on her face as she started to pick at what remained of her meal, dread filling her entire being again. Riley glanced up from the burger she was munching on and she sighed, placing it down after taking another bite of it. "Goddamn it, Selena," she said with her mouth full. She continued speaking after swallowing. "Why can't you just let me eat my food in peace?" She rubbed her face in frustration as she leaned back against the seat of the booth. Beginning to lose her appetite, she gazed around the diner and her eyes widened in sudden surprise as a familiar face came into her line of sight. "Selena." Her sibling looked at her without answering. "Selena," she repeated, pointing a finger towards the person she was staring at. "Do you have any idea as to why Leslie Swan is here?" she asked. Leslie Swan was a waitress from Raleigh, North Carolina and the mother of the very deceased Emily Swan, the first innocent person that the half-sisters couldn't save.

        Blinking in confusion at the sudden question, Selena looked towards the direction that Riley was pointing to. For a split second, her eyes widened since she hadn't expected to actually see Leslie there and a second after that, she smiled sadly. "Perhaps she wished to get away from  _there_  after what occurred to her only daughter," she answered Riley in soft tone. She stood up from the booth. "I will go talk with her because I quite miss her companionship. I surely hope that she's still as kind as she was the last time we saw her." She walked away from the booth, heading towards the diner's long-ass counter.

        Riley remained where she was, her eyes following Selena's movements. She half-smiled when she saw the look of shock on Leslie's face when Selena finally reached her location. The older sibling continued to watch as Leslie quickly walked around the counter to give Selena a big hug; Riley was pleased to see that the woman hadn't changed at all. As she kept her eyes locked on the two engaging women, Riley caught wind of a conversation that was taking place behind her; she couldn't help it that she was suddenly eavesdropping on some strangers since they happened to be talking very loudly. "...It's kind of this local legend," she heard a female say, completely missing whatever was said before that. "This one girl, she got murdered out on Centennial, like decades ago. Well, supposedly, she's still out there. She hitchhikes, and whoever picks her up, well, they disappear forever."

        Unable to help herself, Riley rolled her eyes in annoyance because the female had given out some false information about the case. Since hearing incorrect knowledge really irked her nerves, she turned in her booth and she rested her head against the top of her seat, her lovely eyes staring at the Winchester brothers and the two females with them. Temporarily, she locked eyes with Dean and as intriguing as he suddenly was to her, she looked away first; she wasn't about to interrupt the conversation with flirting because she was gonna do such by putting the girl in her place. She took an educated guess and assumed that it was the female to her left that had spoken. "Alright then," Riley started saying, causing both females to jump from startlement as they looked in her direction. She smirked at them. "Alright then," she repeated as she pointed at the long-haired female. "I'm gonna assume that you were the one speaking just a second ago." She rested her head on her right hand, her elbow lying on the booth. Eyeing the girl, she continued. "That sure was a very entertaining story that you told, darling wannabe emo, but you got your facts a tad wrong. You see, the woman wasn't murdered by anyone; she committed suicide after she murdered a few little ones. You probably should learn how to improve your researching skills because you can't just believe everything that everyone else spreads around."

        The female stared at her in disbelief. On the other side of her shared booth, Dean and Sam glanced at one another before they looked back towards Riley. "You're insane if you actually believe that it's true," the girl told Riley. "It's just some legend that people made up a long time ago." She was trying to pretend like she wasn't beginning to believe in such a myth, but with the manner that she had used when she told the story, it was proven that she did, in fact, believe in the legend. Men were going missing and the legend revolved around a spirit that made men disappear from existence; it couldn't just be a coincidence.

        Riley continued to stare at the female, but she was frowning instead of smirking. "Oh? Is that so?" she questioned before shrugging. "Alright, then answer me this. Do you believe in God? Maybe Angels? Perhaps Satan? How about demons?" she quizzed the girl. "Do you believe in any of them?" The female hesitated to answer those simple questions and Riley smirked at her again. "Well? I'm waiting for an answer, love. I don't have all day, you know. I've got places to explore and people to please."

        With additional hesitation, the female finally answered. "...Yes."

        "Well, isn't that just lovely?" Riley spoke in a mocking tone. "So, if you can believe in all of those things, why can't you believe in ghosts? Why leave them out of the mix, hmm?" She didn't receive a reply of any kind and she released a laugh as the female looked away in slight embarrassment. "I rest my case." Randomly glancing down at the table, she spotted a lost poster. Removing her head from her hand, she reached over and picked it up, rolling her eyes. "Just so you know, all of the men that have gone missing through the years, none of them have ever been found. With that said, all these missing posters of yours are completely useless." She balled up the poster and tossed it aimlessly behind her; it landed on the table of her own booth.

        The other female at the booth, referred to as Amy, suddenly started to cry because of the blunt words that Riley had shared with them. Her best-friend, the girl that Riley had been speaking with, glared at the older half-sister as she gave her sobbing friend a hug in comfort. "You're a heartless bitch."

        Riley's smirk continued to remain. "Nope, I completely disagree with that notion. I'm just very brutally honest sometimes, honeybun. 'Least now, she doesn't have to wait for the inevitable truth that her lover is never gonna return to her." She stood up from her seat and she strolled to the side of their booth, eyeing all of them. "Take care, lovelies and gentlemen. Have fun with whatever it is you're doing with your lives." She headed out of the diner after that, walking to her car. She entered it and immediately laid her head against her seat, releasing a long sigh. "I probably shouldn't had done that," she uttered to herself, slightly regretting her actions. She'd get over it, though; she always did.

        Back inside the diner, Selena was chatting up a storm with Leslie. At first, the older woman was careful to avoid mentioning her deceased daughter, speaking only of how she was doing and what was happening in her life. She often asked Selena questions about what was happening with her and as a result, Selena eventually ended up revealing that she and her older sister were having a special kind of road trip that was gonna last a long time. As their conversation started to come to a conclusion, Selena decided to bring up what Leslie was avoiding. "Why are you here instead of being in North Carolina? You have failed to explain that to me."

        Leslie released a sigh before she frowned. She brushed invisible lint off of her apron for no apparent reason. "I, uh..." Sighing again, she crossed her arms and stared at the marbled floor. "I couldn't stay there anymore. Not after..." Tears started to fill her eyes. "So, after the funeral, I grabbed everything and got the hell out of there." She smiled sadly as she looked up at Selena. "...I..." She couldn't speak further, her voice cracking.

        Frowning, Selena placed her hand on Leslie's arm. "Let the tears flow. You should not hold it in anymore. You cannot run away from what had happened. You can only embrace it and you must do so before it mentally destroys you. It will help you move onward and you will find some peace. However, I must admit that you will not fully recover from the occurrence because this is something that happens to everyone when a loved one passes away so suddenly." She had gotten over the death of her father, but she couldn't accept that he had left in a very violent manner. She would never be able to accept that, regardless of him being in a better place.

        Leslie stared at Selena and she nodded shortly, tears beginning to stream down her cheeks. "Thank you for the advice, Selena. Ummm..." Leaning forward, she whispered into Selena's ear. "...I had always imagined that I'd leave this world before her, but life had other plans for us both..." She sniffled. "Losing a child... It's the worst thing that can possibly happen to a parent... So, you're right; I won't be able to accept that she left before I did but I can try to let it go..." Giving Selena a quick hug, she walked away from her without saying a goodbye. Selena didn't mind the lack of a goodbye, though, because goodbyes meant the end of something.

        Turning to face back towards the booth she had been sitting at with Riley, Selena noticed that her half-sibling wasn't seated there anymore. Tilting her head in slight confusion, she soon came to the conclusion that perhaps her sibling had walked out of the diner without her knowledge. With that assumption in mind, she started to roam through the diner as she headed towards the entrance-and-exit. She had her eyes locked on the ground as she walked, so she wasn't paying full attention to where she was heading and as a result, she walked right into someone. Looking up a bit further than she was used to, her eyes locked with the eyes of Sam, who was approximately taller than her by more than five inches. "Pardon me," she formally apologized. "I should have been watching where I was heading." A few seconds later, she came to realize that the tall man had his hands on her shoulders; he had kept her from falling over when they collided.

        "It's fine. It was my fault," Sam countered immediately. He released his grip on her shoulders, lowering his arms to his sides. "I should've been the one watching where they were going." He smiled kindly down at her and she quickly found herself smiling back at him. Deep inside her soul, Selena was surprised by the encounter because most of the time, the people that she would accidentally ran into would respond very rudely to her; she hadn't expected a kind response. She was about to make her way around him when he started speaking to her again. "That's a really nice necklace," he complimented randomly. He gestured towards her neck, putting emphasis to his words. "The more unique one," he clarified since Selena was wearing two.

        Selena reached up to grasp the necklace that he was mentioning; it was the stone that had a rainbow-like coloring. "Thank you. It was a gift from a very close relative." In fact, it was gift one of two from her other half-sister, Juliet Grant; the second gift was the ring she was wearing. She almost found herself frowning but she kept a smile on her face, despite the fact that it felt more fake to her because she couldn't stop thinking about how much she missed Juliet; she hadn't seen her in approximately two years and last saw her when she (herself), and Riley, left North Carolina to become hunters.

        The ring on Selena's finger immediately caught Sam's attention, just like the necklace had. However, he found the ring to be more odd than unique, but he didn't voice that opinion aloud. Instead, he simply continued to smile kindly and he spoke to Selena once more. "Take care of yourself," he said politely. Why he chose those words, he wasn't entirely sure, but it was far better than a rushed goodbye because he didn't want to seem like an asshole, even if he wasn't gonna see the woman again. After saying that polite farewell, he turned away from her and walked away. Standing in wait at the entrance-and-exit of the diner was his older brother and he had a proud smirk on his face. Sam immediately gave him an unamused look. "Don't start," he lightly begged as he walked past Dean, heading out of the diner.

        "No can do, Sammy," Dean stated, still smirking as he followed Sam. Soon, he was walking alongside his younger, and taller, sibling. "So, who was the lucky lady?" he asked in a teasing-like tone. Sam looked at him with an annoyed expression, not bothering to comment. Holding his hands up in false surrender, Dean continued speaking. "Okay, I won't go there." After a second passed by, he dropped his hands and spoke more. "Did you get her name, at least? Or her number?" he asked as they reached his black, four-door, hardtop nineteen-sixty-seven Chevy Impala. He didn't really care about the girl's information; he just wanted to mess with Sam.

        "Dean," Sam started, pure annoyance and irritation in his tone as he opened the passenger's door. "I wasn't flirting with her. We accidentally ran into each other and we apologized. That's all that happened. End of story and I'm dating Jess, remember?" He entered the vehicle as he rolled his eyes, closing the door behind him almost a little too roughly. Sometimes (perhaps most of the time), Dean would annoy the hell outta him, kinda like he had been doing in that previous moment; if his older brother was actually interested in knowing the girl's name and number, he would've gone back inside the diner to learn that information himself. Dean entered the Impala shortly afterwards, saying nothing further about the female as he eventually drove the vehicle out of the parking lot. The two of them had a case to solve.

        As the hunting Winchester brothers drove away, Selena finally exited the diner and she began to walk towards Riley's car. She frowned when she noticed that Riley was visibly distressed, her head against the driver's seat as she lightly messed with her literal heart necklace. Walking over to the passenger's door, Selena opened it and got into the car, closing the door behind her. She stared at Riley with concern. "Did something happen whilst I was speaking with Leslie? Is that why you came out here instead of attempting to finish the remainder of your food?" she asked, continuing to frown.

        Riley sighed lowly as she glanced over at Selena. "I might had done something very..." She sighed again and sat up correctly in her seat. "Okay, so I overheard some emo chick talking about the  _Woman in White_  and she got some of the information wrong. It kinda-It really pissed me off because I really don't like hearing people say the wrong things when I know for damn sure that they're wrong as fuck and I'm with the correct information." She was certain that made sense and she continued ranting. "Anyway, I placed myself into her conversation with this other kinda emo girl and these two hot looking dudes. I told the girl the correct information and she said I had to be completely insane to believe any of it. So, I asked her a series of questions about things she might believe in and she said yes to them all. Then after that, I questioned why she couldn't believe in ghosts, too, and then I was a complete bitch when I straight up told her friend that her lover wasn't ever gonna be found because he is definitely dead and I made her cry like the little bitch she is. I probably shouldn't have done that, but I couldn't help myself and I only regret it slightly. That chick was kinda right, though. I'm a heartless bitch, but I still think of myself as being a brutally honest person."

        "I see," Selena responded quietly. "Well, I do not think that you were being heartless. You just hadn't been thinking clearly about how to phrase your words. Additionally, you do tend to interact with others in a negative light sometimes, but that is when you get in a really bad mood, like you did this time around, too. If it truly bothers you that much, perhaps when you are getting angry, you can do some breathing exercises to try and cool yourself down, so that you can respond rationally or so you can ignore what happened and move onward without any conflict occurring." If she wasn't a hunter, she probably would've been a really great therapist or guidance counselor.

        Riley scoffed at the suggestions, but smiled at Selena. "Yeah, I'm so not doing the breathing exercise thing you mentioned. That so isn't me. I can probably stop from making an ass of myself again without doing anything like that." She stretched in her seat. "So, how about a road trip back towards our old hometown?" she suggested. "Because I'm nearly positive that those two hot guys I saw inside are Hunters. They seemed like hunters, anyway, so I'm sure they are. If not, eh. Somebody'll come here and deal with that spirit for us, eventually. I'm not risking either of us getting killed this time around because of that stupid fear of yours. You can try facing it again another time or something." She started up the vehicle. "Ready to go see Juliet?"

        Selena smiled brightly. "Absolutely." Deep down inside her spirit, she felt bad that they weren't gonna deal with the case, regardless of how she was gonna react during it, because lives were on the line. However, that emotion was quickly replaced with the excitement of being able to see her other half-sister again. Riley drove out of the parking lot and through the town. Throughout the ride, Selena didn't care about her dislike for being inside the vehicle; all that mattered was seeing Juliet again...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1) Selena will be twenty for the entirety of this long-ass series because she is no longer aging, thanks to her being very unique. Also, as of now, Riley is twenty-one (like I am, in 2018). While Riley's age will be mentioned often as she grows older, Selena's will not be reminded of as often because I will not be following what age she should had been, instead simply reminding all of you that she is stuck at twenty for the remainder of her life.
> 
> 2) Please, do me the favor of imagining Hayden (Riley) as taller than she actually is (5' 0'') because Nina (Selena), Jensen (Dean), and Jared (Sam) are all practically giants to her (5' 7'', 6' 1'', 6' 4''; same order as the three were listed). So, imagine Hayden (Riley) as 5' 7'' like Nina (Selena). I'm actually about as tall as Hayden in real life, by the way, since I'm on the topic of heights. Also, just think of them, at those heights, for the entirety of this fanfiction. Thank you very much, lovelies :3
> 
> 3) I don't often mention that the girls are still wearing their jewelry, but just keep that in mind cause I'm sure it'll get annoying if I constantly remind you that they are wearing jewelry still. By the way, Riley has a ring and necklace whilst Selena has two necklaces and a ring. :P
> 
> 4) I know that I don't really need to explain exactly what the girls wear, but I chose to do so because it just feels weird to not mention it often.


	5. Family Reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Selena Grant reunites with her other half-sister, Juliet Grant, after having not seen her in slightly over two years. The two of them temporarily catch up with things as Riley Piers just wanders off and becomes unimportant in this chapter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Original Content/Dialogue, Errors of Any Kind, One-Scene Chapter, Slight Difficulty with Describing Some Mannerisms/Appearances, Very Low/Very High Possibility of Unrealistic/Realistic Actions/Reactions, Violence Is Absent, Family Moment/Reunion, Information Revealed About Original Character(s) Within Chapter Isn't Entirely Original
> 
> For starters, after creating the first few chapters, I thought about changing my original pairings; I thought about Dean ending up with Selena and Riley ending up either alone or with another character such as Castiel or Meg, but I thought against that. Now, here are the confirmed pairings: Dean Winchester x Riley Piers and Sam Winchester x Juliet Grant. Nothing for Selena is set in stone yet, me having not yet decided on who she'll have her happy ending with, but I will admit that it is actually very likely that she'll be the only one who'll be paired up with multiple people from the show (and obviously those relations won't happen all at once, plus most of them will be completely one-sided since she just wants to have one love in her life). The possibility is rather high for it being Castiel that she'll romantically be involved with because of the similarities that some silent readers have pointed out to me via private messages.
> 
> Nina Dobrev as Selena Grant  
> Hayden Panettiere as Riley Piers  
> Victoria Justice as Juliet Grant

_All, all of the people around us they say_  
_Can they be that close_  
_Just let me state for the record_  
_We're giving love in a family dose_

_(We Are Family - Sister Sledge)_

* * *

**~November 3rd, 2005; Raleigh, North Carolina~**

      The brightest of smiles appeared on Selena Grant's face as her eyes locked onto the back of her half-sibling, Juliet Grant. The sister in question was sitting at a counter, socializing with no one despite being within a very public bar. How Juliet had been located was simple; Selena remembered all of her favorite places to hang-out and the bar they were inside just happened to be the last one on that list. Admittedly, Selena and Riley had both worried about Juliet being located at Rebecca's home; heading there wouldn't had ended very well for Riley since she was entirely human and she was hated deeply by most of the Grant household. However, that worry of theirs vanished the moment they had spotted Juliet's vehicle in the parking lot of that very bar they were all standing within. Dressed in almost-entirely black clothing of sorts, apart from her light-blue denim vest, Selena approached Juliet from behind at a slow pace, her smile remaining. Behind Selena, Riley (dressed in all navy blue, from her jacket and tank-top to her jeans; although, her shoes were black-and-white) was dragging her feet across the ground, purposely moving at a much slower pace than her younger half-sibling as she eyed all of the men and women.

        Juliet, unaware of her approaching half-sibling and good friend, was frowning as her finger circled the tip of her cocktail glass. She missed Selena something awful and deeply regretted her decision of never attempting to find her, but things had changed quite a bit since she had made her broken promise. For starters, her extremely strict parents had began getting on her back about finding herself a mate, claiming that it was her duty to create more of their kind; she didn't care about that, not even in the slightest, because she was her own person and she wasn't gonna allow her horrid parents to make her decisions for her. Instead of some rushed picking of a lover (that she definitely didn't wish to have), she wanted to find a decent enough  _human_ guy to slowly fall in love with and she'd gladly mate with him when the time was correct; she wasn't gonna let her parents rush her into doing something she wasn't yet ready for. Secondly, her life had become busier than usual because she had started doing a lot of research on witchcraft, a supernatural study that she had taken an immediate interest in upon discovering it; she wasn't a witch yet (such beings could occasionally be created through perfect practice instead of being born), but after approximately two years of studying, she was finally at the beginning of becoming one. Lastly, she had become a lot more social; every other night, she'd mingle with absolutely anyone she found attractive and she often enjoyed the no-strings attached sex that came alone with it. Unfortunately, that night just wasn't going well for her and she had chosen a very short black dress for nothing.

        "Hey," a soft voice greeted Juliet from behind. She recognized that voice immediately, despite that she hadn't heard it in a few years. Her eyes widened and they sparkled with anticipation. Slowly turning around in her seat, a smile finally appeared on her face as her eyes locked onto her half-sister's figure. Selena was already smiling back at her, her hands on her own face. "Oh, Juliet," she continued in a quiet manner. "I missed you so much." Juliet removed herself from her seat quickly and she instantly wrapped her arms around Selena's neck, giving her a long hug. In return, Selena wrapped her own arms around Juliet and she placed the palms of her hands on her sibling's back, awkwardly patting her. "There is so much that you have missed out on and because of such, I am actually quite glad that you refused to come along for the ride." Juliet pulled out of the hug and Selena dropped her arms, immediately taking note of the confusion on her sibling's face. "This life that I share with Riley, it is not very lovely and the only good that comes from it is saving innocents. There is so much violence and death, this life is truly not what it is cracked up to be but Riley and I make it work. You surely dodged a bullet, as Riley would say."

        At that very moment, the half-sibling in question finally reached their location and she nodded in greeting. "Nice to see ya again, Jules." She held out her fist and Juliet laughed gleefully, quickly echoing Riley's actions and the two of them pounded their fists together. Immediately afterwards, they both dropped their extended arms. "We looked every-fucking-where for your ass," Riley said. "We were just about to shit ourselves, thinking that we were gonna have to deal with your crazy ass mother's bullshit. You let us dodge a mighty bullet by being here."

        Juliet continued to unleash laughter from her smiling lips. "I see. Well, I come here more often than any other place in this town, so whenever you come back in the future, search here before you start another wild goose chase." She crossed her arms over her chest and she smiled at the two females. "Hopefully, it won't take you another two years to do that," she teased. Riley and Selena both made a face of worry at the same exact time, causing Juliet to laugh once again. "Relax. I'm not mad. I'd never be mad at my two favorite people on the planet. From what I heard, being a hunter is tough as nails and I assume you can't take very many breaks in between your hunts because monsters never rest." Sitting back down in her seat, she kept her eyes on the lovely hunters. "I'd like to hear all about it, if you don't mind. We do have some catching up to do, anyways."

        "Yeah," Riley dragged out. "You two have fun with that," she added on, declining the offer. She gestured somewhere over her shoulder. "I spotted some sexy lads that were eyeing me like chicken and it's been a long ass time since I got fucked by several people at once, so I'll be seeing you bitches..." She paused for a moment, thinking. "... _Tomorrow_. I will see you tomorrow. Later." She twisted on her feet, turning away from them as she made her way to a small group of young men. Assumingly, based on what she had openly admitted, it was likely that she was gonna have a foursome of sorts.

        As Selena took a seat beside Juliet, the latter gestured towards Riley's location with an eyebrow raised. "Alright, I'll bite. Before your adventure is made known entirely, tell me what's up with Riley. She seems to have something on her mind. I mean, she didn't exactly look bothered by anything but she's surely thinking about something. Did you meet some cute guy on the road? Did she fall for him or something? Is she trying to forget him by having a random sex rampage?" She looked towards Riley for a split second before turning her attention back towards Selena. "I'm sorry for assuming that she's thinking about a man, but it's the only logical thing I can come up with." Selena hesitated to answer her. "Well? Am I right or am I wrong?"

        Shrugging slightly as she finally answered, Selena turned to face towards the counter and her half-sibling did the same. "You are not entirely correct with your assumptions, but um, the answers to those questions are she did, something like that, and probably." She rubbed the back of her neck for a few seconds before she explained what was happening,  _supposedly_. "I had been unaware of the fact that she had spoken to a man whilst we were at a diner in Jericho. I only found out about their meeting when she mentioned it a few hours later, when we were on our way back here. She hadn't spoken a word directly to him, nor did he speak words to her. All the two of them did was stare at one another for a tad bit, but apparently, that was quite enough to get her to become a little smitten." Placing her hands onto the counter, she stared down at them as she lightly tapped her fingers. "This is not the first time she has become infatuated with someone, but normally, she speaks about men, and women, sexually; this time, she merely spoke of his overall appearance and not once did she mention wanting to do the deed with him."

        "Damn," Juliet responded after a moment had gone by. "Well, that's not unheard of since we all get infatuated by people." She paused for a second. "Apart from  _you_ , of course, since you show romantic interest in nobody and I'll assume you haven't changed since I last saw you." She huffed out a breath. "It's kinda odd, though, that Riley is acting a bit differently about a man she had very little interaction with, but I think it's more of an instant crush than an infatuation this time since infatuations vanish quickly and crushes last for various amounts of time." Drinking what remained of her alcoholic beverage, she spoke further. "So, I wouldn't worry too much about her if I were you." She grinned at Selena. "Now then, tell me everything about what you've been through thus far in your life."

        Selena stared at her, her body facing the counter continuously. "There is not much to tell, if I am honest, since everything seems to repeat itself. We save lives constantly, we rid the world of monsters that hold no purity within, we occasionally lose a few innocents, and we make various mistakes along the way." Frowning as she thinks back to the first case she had, she sighs in disappointment. "...I developed a massive fear of spiritual creatures, after many encounters with them that often nearly cost my life and Riley's. Ever since that phobia was created, I completely freeze up in fear whenever I am near a ghost and no matter how hard I try, I just cannot get over this fear. I get so caught up in my phobia that I often let Riley deal with the matters by herself and that bothers her as much as it hurts me." She looked away from Juliet, placing her hands on her face as she felt tears forming in her eyes. "I just don't know what to do and I am terrified that I will get Riley killed someday."

        Juliet placed her hand on Selena's shoulder. "Everything's gonna turn out alright in the end. You'll see. You'll get over this silly fear of yours eventually. It just takes time. Until they go away, just keep facing them head on and your body will eventually agree with your mind. I have absolute faith in you, dearest sister." She dropped her hand from her half-sibling's shoulder and sighed. Selena looked at her again. "You and Riley, you both live such a tough life now. Hearing what you had said about it, I suppose that life must be worth it if it means saving people." She half-smiled. "I'm very proud of you both, you know. That life sounds a lot better than Mama hounding you about finding a mate."

        Selena's teary eyes widened, her attention remaining on her sister as she removed her hands from her face. "Mother wishes for you to mate with someone? What has made her want that so suddenly? Has something occurred to our kind?" she questioned. There weren't many other Immortals of their species out in the world, but Selena wasn't aware of that fact; she was merely just curious about the situation.

        Shaking her head, Juliet shrugged. "I'm not really sure why she wants me to mate with someone, but I assume it's because she wants more of our kind to be created. Before long, she'll likely go looking for you and ask of the same thing." She crossed her arms. "I will not mate with someone I don't love. I don't want to end up like her and my dad. I mean, you've seen how they turned out; their marriage is barely holding together because they hardly love each other. I don't want that. I want love, not lust." Huffing, she continued onward. "Being  _entirely_  like them is so complicated." She gestured towards Selena. "Back to what I said about Mama possibly seeking you out. I know that it's a definite possibility because you share some of our qualities, like immortality and various powers, and unfortunately, I have no doubt that you'll be able to mate with someone because that part of us is too hereditary."

        Groaning, Selena laid her head against the counter. "That sounds really grand," she answered with sarcasm. A few short moments later, she removed her head from the counter and she released a long sigh of displeasure. "Whilst I believe that I do have the ability to chose a mate someday, I do not think that I will ever be interested in being with someone forever. Dating someone is certainly a possibility for me, but having something that is close to marriage is not what I see in my future."

        Juliet hummed. "You say this now, but you might think differently about it one day. You never know." She grew silent for a minute before she started smiling. Recalling her research on witchcraft and whatnot, she decided to change their topic to that. "You know, something amazing has come to me whilst we've been apart, not just all of that horrible nonsense with the unwanted mating." Selena stared at her questionably. "I've been researching witchcraft and I've learnt everything possible. I think that I'm finally ready to start practicing it." She released a squeal and she leaned closer to Selena, speaking quieter so the newly arriving mundanes wouldn't hear them. "I'm gonna be using magic, Selena. Isn't this great? I mean, I have to practice a lot and develop my skills, but I'll be using magic. Isn't that cool?" Within seconds, she started to frown when she noticed that Selena was looking uncertain. "What's wrong? Aren't you proud of my achievement?"

        "...With learning and performing magic, everything comes with some sort of price," Selena revealed in a quiet tone, voicing her concern about the matter. "I do not want you to risk losing an organ, or even your life, just to cast a few spells. I apologize greatly for not being very supportive like you have been with me, but I just cannot be happy with this knowledge because of the many dangers that'll come from it. These risks are far worse than those that come with hunting. For example, one of the prices could be you having to kill an innocent person. I do not want you to become corrupted like most witches." She really wished she could be more supportive about Juliet's new passion, but she just couldn't...

        Juliet nodded. "I understand and appreciate your concern, Selena.  _And_  I agree with you that there are many risks but I think it's worth the effort." Half-smiling again, she placed her hand on Selena's. "To be honest, I only chose to research witchcraft because of you. I did it for you." Selena stared at her, confused and horrified. "Before we went our separate ways, I told you not to get yourself killed and I said that because I wouldn't be able to bare with the pain that would come from that loss since our kind unfortunately can sense the deaths of close family members. I pray that you do not have this quality because it will hurt like hell. In fact, when you find yourself a mate someday, and you definitely will find someone you want to be with forever, you'll feel pain when they pass on from this world and they will feel it, too, regardless of their species." She shook her head, going back to the topic she had been on previously. "I chose to practice witchcraft further because if you were to die, I could easily bring you back. Yes, there will be some price to pay but I honestly don't give a shit. My life isn't worth living if I know that you're gone forever. This world needs you far more than it needs me, Selena."

        "No," Selena replied immediately. "No. If I die, then I die. You'll learn to bare with the thought of me no longer existing once that time comes to pass. Don't sacrifice your sanity or your life for me because I won't be able to forgive you for that. If you do it and you end up becoming something inhumane, you would leave me no choice but to end your life to save more innocents and I might not be able to even do that." Her eyes became teary again. "Please, promise me that you won't perform any type of spell."

        Juliet kept her eyes locked on Selena, ignoring the loud cheers of the drunken people surrounding them. Luckily for the half-sisters, everyone was so occupied with their own matters that no one caught a word of the conversation that the siblings were having. "I promise, Selena," Juliet said after a long moment went by. Selena smiled at last and in return, Juliet smiled slightly. When the younger half-sibling looked away, the older sister started frowning instantly. In a matter of seconds, she pulled herself out of her thoughts and she went back to acting like she normally did, knowing that her younger sibling would be leaving her behind again at some point. She silently prayed that it wouldn't take years for the two of them to see one another again...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trivia:
> 
> 1) By this point, trivia is just a fancier way of saying author's note :). Sorry, not sorry. There's nothing you really need to remember in this chapter, except that Riley is very attracted to Dean already, Juliet wants to do witchcraft stuff, and Selena doesn't want a mate. Also, Selena is now going to be wearing a denim vest over most of her attires throughout this story (most likely and if it isn't mentioned, assume it's on her body unless it is stated otherwise).
> 
> 2) I have decided that I'm gonna reveal something else to all of you. You'll probably be seeing a lot of foreshadowing in this fanfiction. I believe a few things have already been foreshadowed by this point in time. I won't reveal what they were because that's meant to be revealed in the future.
> 
> 3) Hey, look at that, I revealed another Immortal fact. I planned to have this fact revealed in Chapter Nineteen: Family Affair but I decided to reveal it much earlier. So, here's a recap of the fact and a better understanding of the matter! Immortals mate, but it doesn't necessarily have to be with each other (aka, they don't have to mate with other Immortals). Now, originally, the method of mating was just sexual intercourse between an Immortal and another person of a species but then, I realized that if I went that route, Juliet would already be mated to someone. So, I thought about all the Alpha-Omega fanfic stuff I've read in the past. Looking at James, Juliet, and Rebecca's characteristics, they are very alpha-like while Selena is more like a Beta or an Omega. So, hey, I decided that the mating occurs just like the mating of Alphas and Omegas/Betas; sexual intercourse AND biting of the neck at the climax of the act of the sexual relations. Additionally, mating bonds are unbreakable, even through death, and mates can feel the deaths of their 'spouse' (I haven't decided if they can sense each other's pain or not). As of now, Juliet and Selena are mateless (and because of my reveal in the beginning, I am sure you have realized who they will mate with). The mating between a human and an Immortal will be different than when two Immortals mate because, for starters, humans can't leave a mark that'll last while Immortals can but it's still considered mating since the bite left on the human would be permanent. The mating between an Immortal and another magical being, that might be close to how two Immortals mate except the magical being mates in the way its species mates, if its species does such a thing. Hopefully, this idea won't be judged too badly. It's something new combined with something old, idea wise.


	6. Wendigo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Grant-Piers half-siblings (Riley Piers and Selena Grant) officially meet the Winchester brothers (Dean and Sam Winchester). The four hunters must work together to deal with a Wendigo problem whilst protecting a group of civilians that are searching for a missing boy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Original and Unoriginal Content/Dialogue, Errors of Any Kind, Long Chapter Ahead, Unoriginal Not-So-Important Character(s) Introduction, Difficulty With Some Descriptions of Character Appearances, Difficulty With Some Descriptions of Scenery, Possibility of Incorrect Information, Possibility of Out-of-Character Moments, Medium Possibility of Unrealistic Actions or Reactions, High Possibility of Realistic Actions or Reactions, Violence, Gore, Few Scenes From Episode Missing
> 
> Firstly, remember that the cast only shows those whom weren't originally in the show. Secondly, I was really excited to make this because I actually really loved the episode. Additionally, this would be the second time I wrote something that dealt with a Wendigo, the first being my fanfiction for "Until Dawn", a video game for Playstation 4. Still slowly rewriting that, by the way, 'cause I cringe every single time I look back at what I had originally put. What the hell had I been thinking when I made it? I wasn't much of an experienced writer then, though. Lastly, I stated that this is where all the real fun begins. I'm hoping that you'll enjoy reading it as much as I had enjoyed writing it. I won't say it wasn't difficult to write because it was really, really difficult to write. But I did it! Aren't ya proud of me? Enjoy!
> 
> Nina Dobrev as Selena Grant  
> Hayden Panettiere as Riley Piers

_I stuff your flesh down my throat_  
_I pick my teeth with your bones_  
_'Cause when I tear you to bits, sop up the blood with your skin  
_ _I'll make a meal outta you_

_(Wendigo : Sharon Needles)_

* * *

  **~(Approximately) November 10th, 2005; Blackwater Ridge, Colorado~**

       The clear, bright light-blue sky lite up the forest, shining down upon the half-sisters, Riley Piers and Selena Grant, as they walked through it. Riley was cursing up a storm under her breath as she walked a long ways ahead of Selena unknowingly, regretting her decision of picking out an all-white attire as her white shoes became stained by the wet moss she stepped on. She hated nature, hated it with all of her being. Why did she have to find a case that involved hiking through the woods? She was really missing that chat with the Ranger and that second chat with the living victim of the last 'grizzly' attack. Quite a long ways behind her, Selena was admiring the view as she walked, dressed in casual wear that wasn't really all that suited for hiking but it was better than nothing. She was enjoying her time out in the forest, despite the danger of being within them, and she loved how beautiful everything around her was, her having a fondness for beautiful things and for nature.

        Selena was aware that she was slowly losing sight of Riley but she knew that Riley was more than capable of protecting herself from the Wendigo that they were hunting, considering that fire kills it and Riley can create fire with ease. But regardless of that power, Riley still had brought along a flare gun and a SIG Pro Semi-Automatic Black Pistol, even though the pistol wouldn't really do much damage or any damage at all to a creature such as the Wendigo. And additionally, Selena was armed with just a flare gun, actual guns being objects she never wanted to hold in her hands at any point in her life. But upon thinking about it fully, she realized that her slacking off and walking so slowly behind Riley was making herself vulnerable for any attack, her not having the power to create or even control fire. Her mind back in order and no longer focusing on the beauty of the forest, she began to pick up the pace as she started attempting to catch up with Riley.

        As Selena walked at a faster pace to catch up with Riley, Riley paused in her footsteps as she noticed a group of people ahead of them. She couldn't really make out their faces but from what she could tell, the group was mainly consisting of men. Watching the group disappear into the trees suddenly with much speed, she quickly began moving again in hopes of catching up to them and she temporarily forgotten that her younger half-sister was behind her, still attempting to catch up to her. Riley didn't know who these people were but she knew that they were begging for trouble by being out there in those woods and it was likely that they were heading straight towards said trouble. She soon brought herself to a stop by a large tree, hiding behind it as she watched the group approach a destroyed campsite with blood soaked here and there, none of the group realizing that they were being followed because their attention was caught on something else entirely, namely the torn-to-shreds campsite.

        As she stepped around the tree slowly to get a better view of the group, Riley's eyes widened in surprise when she recognized the two men she had seen a week or so ago at a diner. She never would had guessed that the two of them were hunters, but then again, if she hadn't been so pissed off at that one girl the first time she encountered them, she probably would had realized it much sooner. She took another step forward and a branch snapped underneath her foot, causing everyone to jump and look towards her direction. She tensed up immediately when the cry of a gun sounded and a bullet hit the tree to her left, some of the tree bark flying off and hitting her not so gently. Firstly, she was shocked that someone had fired at her reflexively and missed. Secondly, she was still shocked but about something else, her eyes locking on the two men she recognized whom were staring at her with the same shock in their eyes and on their faces.

        The shock Riley felt slowly turned into rage as she looked at the man that shot at her, a very pissed off expression upon her face. The man had what appeared to be pale-blonde, maybe grayish-white thin hair and perhaps a five o'clock shadow. And he appeared to be wearing the most proper attire for hiking through the forest. "Oh, you are so going to wish you just killed me," Riley told him, making a face of annoyance and anger. She lifted her arm up and pointed at him. "Because you, Sir, are on the top of my list of people I want dead. And I," she placed her hands together in front of her as if she were praying, "am praying that you become the next victim of these attacks." She dropped her hands and smirked, shrugging slightly. "But then again, you should be thankful that you didn't kill me or otherwise, I would have come back to haunt and kill your pathetic little ass. And the ending of that wouldn't have been great for either of us so thanks very much for missing. And if you don't stop pointing that damn rifle towards me, I swear to God that I'm going to come over there and shove it straight up your ass." Roy, the man that had nearly killed her, eyed her with both fear and suspicion but lowered his weapon.

        "Who the hell are you?" she heard someone ask, the person using a rude tone. Turning her attention away from Roy and towards where the voice had come from, she had her eyes back on the two men she had met the previous week. It didn't take her long to realize that it was the shorter one, Dean Winchester, that had spoken, his eyes narrowed at her while the taller one, Sam Winchester, stared at her with slight curiosity. It just had to be the hotter one that answered, the one that had caught Riley's attention back at that diner last week-ish.

        Riley continued smirking and she shrugged again. "Jee, I just don't know. Maybe I'm your worst nightmare. Maybe I'm the woman of your dreams. Take your pick, handsome." She took a few wary steps forward, eyeing everyone but mostly the guy that had nearly shot her. She, then, stopped and placed her hands on her hips, staring back at Dean again. Her smirk remained. "But most just call me Riley. Riley Piers."

        Roy eyed her, unimpressed with her introduction. "Well,  _Riley_ , why is it that you're out here by your lonesome and without any protection? You do know that there are cougars and grizzlies out here, right?" Riley looked towards Roy with another glare and he shifted slightly under her gaze, still a bit afraid of her. He certainly had pissed her off by acting as if she were a dumb blonde.

        "Oh, goodie," Riley replied sarcastically. "The jackass knows how to talk. How wonderful." She rolled her eyes. "Do you honestly think I'd come all the way out here without something up my sleeve? You are sadly mistaken, ya asshole. A flare gun and pistol is all I need out here. Go fuck yourself." She looked around at what remained of the group and she spotted a shoulder-length, brown-haired woman in shorts along with a younger looking, dark-haired male. "Hey," she greeted uncaringly. She was in too much of a bad mood now to care about the safety of anyone in this group.

        Another snap of a branch caused them all to turn towards the direction of said sound and, once again, Roy fired his rifle and, thankfully once again, missed, hitting the same tree. Standing slouched beside the wounded tree and having released a squeal upon the sound of the second shot was Selena, her eyes wide with fear as she straightened up, her eyes shifting between the tree and Roy. Growling in anger, Riley approached Roy quickly and temporarily took his rifle, hitting him upside the head with it before tossing it to the ground. She, then, immediately approached Selena and placed her hands on her shoulders before anyone in the group could even comprehend what just had happened. "That was not necessary for you to do," Selena spoke, her voice shaky. "I am fine. Mostly." She glanced back towards the very wounded tree. "That greatly explains the gunfire I had heard a minute ago. I suppose you had nearly gotten shot, too, yes?" Riley smiled sheepishly at her and Selena released a quick breath. "I believe I may need a moment..."

        "Right..." Riley responded softly. While she herself was kind of use to being shot at considering that some of the things they hunted had turned out to be humans, Selena never had such a thing occur to her, thankfully, until just a moment ago. As she leaned against the tree to recover from being shot at, Selena's eyes darted towards the group and upon spotting Sam, she became confused as to why he was there. Hell, even Dean and Sam looked confused for a moment before they both came to the same conclusion; Riley had made it vaguely known to the brothers that she was a hunter and seeing this second woman, the woman Dean saw Sam talking to at the diner, had to mean that she was a hunter, too. Selena broke eye contact with them and looked towards Riley as Riley looked towards Roy. A sigh escaped Selena as Riley began to scowled the man while he rubbed the side of his head where Riley had clocked him. "Oh, first it wasn't enough for you to miss shooting me but you just had to go trying to shoot my sister, too? I'm one-hundred and fifty percent done with your bullshit already, whatever the hell your name is."

        "Great. What are the odds of that?" Dean responded sarcastically, causing Riley and Selena to look towards him. "The more, the merrier." He was replying to one little thing that he heard coming from Riley's mouth.  _Sister_. Freaking sister hunters. Really, what were the odds of him and his brother meeting up with two sisters that had the same job as them? While Dean was greatly displeased with having more people around (especially more hunters), Sam actually appeared to be a bit intrigued by this despite his own annoyance towards more people showing up. In fact, maybe the four of them working together would be beneficial, considering that things would go faster and Sam really wanted things to go faster.

        Before anyone could say anything or before anymore introductions could be made, a cry for help came from the not so far distance. "Help!" Reacting a bit slowly, the group began to run in the direction of the voice. Although, Riley and Selena both made an attempt to prevent any of them from running off but alas, their voices remained unheard and they both ran after them, Riley reluctantly doing so and Selena worriedly doing so. "Please! Somebody help me!" the voice continued to cry out. However, as the group moved further away from the damaged campsite, the cry for help died down until nothing was heard. Everyone, minus Riley and Selena, were looking around for any sign of someone in need. Instead, Riley and Selena were looking around for any sign of a Wendigo that may had been leading them all into a trap.

        Haley Collins, the female of the group that the half-sisters had entered, placed her hand against a nearby tree as she looked around. "It seemed like it was coming from around here, didn't it?" She was confused as to what was occurring. She knew that they had all heard the man crying for help and here they were, ready to help him but he wasn't anywhere in sight. She wasn't sure what to think of this situation, other than it was a bit odd.

        "We tried to tell you," Riley began, grabbing everyone's immediate attention. She made a face and placed her hands on her hips, eyeing every last one of them. "Oh, so  _now_  you wanna hear what we've got to say?" She scoffed. "Yeah, a little too late for that shit."

        "Riley, that is enough," Selena stated, soundly slightly stern. She looked away from her sister and towards the others whom were now eyeing her. "All that really matters right this moment is for all of us to return to the campsite. I believe that we will be safer there due to there being a large amount of space." She hesitated for a moment before continuing, deciding to leave out that whatever was left behind at the camp would surely be missing now because of the Wendigo. "Additionally, we should get moving right about now. We are endangering ourselves for remaining here further out in the open." She didn't speak any further and she didn't have to because Sam suddenly began jogging past her, the others and herself immediately following after him. In the back of her mind, Selena could only assume that he had realized what had happened.

        Upon reaching the campsite, absolutely everyone was aware that the packs and supplies were missing. Haley had cried out in disbelief while Roy strode over to where he had left his pack, crouching down towards the ground as he stared down. "So much for my GPS and satellite phone," he muttered. Around him at different parts of the campsite, everyone stood around with their eyes shifting around the campsite.

        "What the hell is going on?" Haley questioned as she looked towards the half-sisters and the brothers. She wasn't entirely clueless. She felt that the four of them knew something, that they knew what was occurring around them. Packs don't just spout legs and walk away.

        "It's smart," Sam stated as he looked towards the ground, his hands on his hips. "It wants to cut us off so we can't call for help." He shook his head slightly as he looked up, Dean walking past him.

        "You mean someone," Roy said as he stood up straight. He looked onward, towards the trees that surrounded them all. "Some nut-job out there just stole all our gear." He looked towards Riley and Selena, spotting them standing a little ways behind Sam. He walked forward and Sam looked towards him but upon seeing that Roy was looking past him, he turned around and looked towards the half-sisters himself, wondering what was about to occur. "I bet it was one of you two. You just came waltzing in out of nowhere. You've got buddies out there? Did you let them know we were going so that they could make off with everything?" He spoke with anger this time, previously having been completely calm about the situation.

        Riley glared at him while Selena shifted uncomfortably under the man's gaze. "Right," she answered sarcastically. "We gave them the bat signal as we followed behind all of you." Her glare intensified as she got in his face. "No, there isn't anyone else out there. No one that's human, anyways." Roy scoffed and moved away from her, walking away from both sisters. "Asshole," she continued, not bothering to lower her voice. Selena looked towards her disapprovingly but said nothing, her eyes darting around the campsite at everyone. She caught Sam staring at her and she smiled kindly at him before looking away, not before he had smiled back at her slightly.

        Selena's eyes continued to dart between the others of the group and she slowly realized that she had yet introduced herself. She was about to walk forward, about to approach Roy, Haley, and Ben Collins (the other boy of the group) but before she did so, she noticed at the corner of her eye that Dean and Sam were walking away from the group. She gently tapped Riley's shoulder when she noticed that Riley was staring up at the sky that was barely visible because of the trees. Riley looked towards her and Selena nodded towards the brothers, causing Riley to look their way. Both looking back at the other three, they slowly followed after the brothers and managed to catch a little bit of their conversation as they spotted a journal within Sam's hands. "...Wendigos are in the Minnesota wood or Northern Michigan. I've never even heard of one this far west," Dean told Sam, not believing the creature to be what they were dealing with.

        The brothers were too engaged with speaking to each other and looking at the journal to realize that the half-sisters were approaching them. "That isn't how you pronounce it," Riley spoke up as she and Selena came to a stop by them. Both brothers jumped slightly and both gave the sisters an irritated look, though Dean seemed more irritated than Sam. Riley would had smirked but she was a bit annoyed again. "You pronounce it as Win-Duhgo, not Win-Deego." She couldn't help herself because she just did not like hearing things that she believed to be incorrect. It was her pet peeve.

        Dean opened his mouth to say something, most likely smart and not nice but Selena spoke first, preventing him from doing so. She was looking at Riley. "It can be pronounced either way, Riley," she remarked gently. "You must learn to refrain from speaking ill towards others when they say something you do not deem correct." Riley scoffed and crossed her arms, looking elsewhere as she mumbled a  _whatever_  and  _shut up_  to Selena. Selena sighed slightly and shook her head at her gently before she looked towards the brothers. She bowed her head down ever so slightly. "I apologize for her mannerism."

        "It's fine," Sam answered, half-smiling for a split second. He stared at the two of them, curious. "How did the two of you figure out it was a Wendigo?" he asked. He eyed Riley when she let out a groan with how he pronounced the name of the creature. "Sorry," he muttered an apology to her before he looked towards Selena mainly, waiting for her to answer. He preferred for her to answer since she was more civilized than Riley.

        "Simple. Wendigo fit the description, more so than any other creature that exists," Selena told him. "Claws, the way it had mimicked the voice of a man in distress," she pulled her flare gun out from the holster that wasn't very visible considering it was towards her backside, "its weakness of heat."  She tilted her head slightly as she noticed Dean had reached for what she could assume was his weapon. She, additionally, noted that Sam hadn't reacted in the same way. "I am not carrying any sort of weapon other than this flare gun. I do not use any kind of handgun or any gun in general. I dislike them greatly because of the harm they cause." She smiled, pleased when Dean moved his hand away from his gun. "And you must know that your weapon will be useless against the Wendigo, yes?"

        Dean let out a sigh and nodded shortly. "Yeah. I realized that. Just now." Riley let out a laugh and he looked towards her, glaring. "Can it, short stuff." He shouldn't had admitted that he had acknowledged the information slowly. First, he had found the woman to be attractive but now, he certainly didn't like her attitude. She was anything but nice the entirety of her and Selena being around. He couldn't wait until they went separate ways and he was hoping that was very soon.

        Riley glared at Dean. She had found him attractive as he had found her attractive but she didn't like the way he spoke to her. "How about you, your..." She gestured towards Sam. "...Tall friend here, and those other people get the hell outta these woods? Selena and I can manage this ourselves since we have the correct equipment on hand while you don't. You'll just get yourselves and those people killed." Additionally, she didn't want the extra help. She believed Selena and herself would do fine on their own like they always did. Barely.

        "Or we could work together," Sam spoke up before Dean could respond nastily to Riley. Dean and Riley both looked at Sam, both disliking the idea. "I meant temporarily." The two continued giving him a look of disbelief. He sighed. "Look, we're hunting the same thing. It makes sense to join forces. We'll get this done quicker than we could separately." He probably wasn't wrong. It was more likely for things to be finished faster with more help but it would also mean having two others be placed within the danger zone.

        "I agree with you," Selena said, speaking up. Riley turned towards her immediately, gawking at her. Selena looked towards her as both Dean and Sam looked her way. "Riley, this would go faster if we all work together." She looked between Dean and Riley, her eyes eventually ending up back on Riley. "Both of you must know this, correct? I can understand the hesitation because of us not knowing one another very well but can we just ignore this fact for the sake of finishing this case?" She looked back towards Dean and noted his reluctant, and silent, nod in agreement. She looked back towards Riley and smiled faintly when Riley released an almost silent  _fine_  in response. Selena turned towards Sam. "What do you propose we accomplish first?"

        Sam appeared to be slightly taken back by Selena asking him for directions on what to do. He wasn't entirely sure if she believed him to be the leader between himself and his older brother or if she simply asked him that because he was a bit more civilized than Dean. Either way, he had everyone's attention and he could see that Dean looked a little pissed that he hadn't been asked the question. Actually, it was more like Dean was pissed that they had to work with the sisters and he was kind of glaring at Sam as he waited for Sam to speak; Sam definitely would be getting an earful later about this matter once it was over, if he was lucky enough to not have to deal with it during the case. "We got to get these people to safety," Sam instructed them all as he handed his father's journal back to Dean. He walked past the three of them and began heading back towards the group.

        Dean slowly turned his attention towards the sisters, namely Riley. "Just for the record," she began telling him as soon as he laid eyes on her, making him groan. Would she ever shut up? "I really don't like you and I hope you die." Selena looked towards Riley in shock, surprised she said something like that. She should had heard what Riley had said to Roy before she herself had shown up into the group; she would had been even more disappointed and shocked by Riley's behavior, despite the slight, very slight justice behind her words with that man.

        Dean gave Riley a look, one that meant he was getting really tired of her shit. "I honestly don't care what you think, sweetheart. Suck it up. The faster we get this done, the sooner we can never see each other again." With that, he walked past the sisters and mumbled under his breath. "I hope." He hadn't expected to see either one of them again when he last saw them both at that one diner but seeing them, together and revealed as hunter sisters, he just had the feeling that this just wouldn't be the last time he'd see them and he had mixed feelings towards this. He didn't trust the sisters and he didn't want to work with them, but he also wanted to see the eldest sister again because of his slight attraction towards her and it was taking every fiber of his being to keep himself from flirting with her despite her negative attitude towards basically all of them but her younger sister. Slowly trailing behind him were both sisters, the three of them heading back towards the group after Sam.

        "All right, listen up," Sam stated loudly as he reentered the damaged campsite. Ben and Haley focused their attention towards Sam but Roy seemed occupied with something else. Sam entered the campsite more and dialed down his tone as he walked. "It's time to go. Things have gotten..." He paused for a moment as he stopped walking. "...More complicated." He didn't look towards any of them for a moment, his eyes towards the trees ahead of him. Behind him, Dean, Riley, and Selena reentered the campsite themselves and they stood near the Collins siblings.

        "What?" Haley asked him after a second. Why were things more complicated all of a sudden? Why do they have to turn back now when they had only just gotten there to begin the real search for her brother? Why wouldn't Dean and Sam tell them everything? Why wouldn't the newcomers tell them anything? She just wanted to know what the hell was going on and she sure as hell wasn't leaving those woods until she knew her brother was alive and safe.

        "Kid, don't worry," Roy stated as he looked towards Sam. Sam looked towards him in response. "Whatever's out there, I think I can handle it." He gently pat his rifle for emphasis and doing so caused Riley to scoff. Roy looked towards her, raising an eyebrow. "Something else bothering you, Princess?" He was trying to keep his calm but he surely didn't like the attitude of this woman no more than Dean did.

        Riley smirked at him. "Actually, yes. I'm worried that you'll end up shooting one of us instead of the creature you think you can handle." Roy eyed her questionably, wondering what the hell she was talking about. Her smirk vanished and she became completely serious, dropping the bitch attitude for the time being. Mostly. "Trust me, what we're dealing with is something you've never seen before. You'd have better luck shooting Bambi than this thing."

        "She's right," Sam stated. "And it's not me I'm worried about," he continued, responding to something Roy had said to him. Roy looked in his direction, studying him. "If you shoot this thing, you're just gonna make it mad. We have to leave. Now." He was speaking entirely serious about the situation but Roy didn't seem to care all that much about what Riley and Sam had been trying to warn them about.

        "One, you're talking nonsense," Roy began as he began to show more of his angry side. Everyone was eyeing him, except for Selena due to her attention being towards the slowly darkening sky. "Two, you're in no position to give anybody orders. Neither of you are."

        "Relax," Dean reasoned. Roy glanced over to where Dean stood before he looked back towards Sam as Sam began to speak once more.

        "We never should have let you come out in the first place," Sam stated, becoming more irritated as time went on. However, his emotions backtracked and he was back to being cool, collected. "I'm trying to protect you." He was trying to protect them all. That and he just didn't want to baby-sit these people anymore. The case needed to be finished and he needed to go search for the bastard that killed the woman he loved. Although, he needed to help Dean find their father first since he'd likely know how to find the bastard.

        Roy stepped towards Sam and placed himself right up into his face, invading Sam's personal space bubble as he attempted to intimidate him. "You protect me?" he asked arrogantly. "I was hunting these woods when your mommy was still kissing you goodnight." His voice seemed to rise higher and higher the more he became pissed.

        "Yeah?" Sam questioned. He was unfazed by Roy's attempt to intimidate him. He wasn't about to back down. Not when lives were at stake. He stared down at Roy, being taller than absolutely everyone in the group, and he kept his eyes locked on Roy's. "It's a damn near perfect hunter. It's smarter than you and it's gonna hunt you down, and eat you alive unless we get your stupid sorry ass out of here." Sam's lip twitched from his amusement of Roy's ignorance as he watched Roy look away from him a few times as he spoke.

        Roy let out a laugh as he punched Sam in the chest. He had a snobby smile on his face. "You know you're crazy, right?" He didn't believe this mess for a second. He wasn't about to be driven out of there by some kid, said kid having to be in his twenties. He was going to hunt down whatever this thing was, kill it, and go back home a hero for saving the day.

        "Yeah?" Sam continued staring down at Roy. "You ever hunt a wen-" He was unable to finish his sentence when Dean had strode over and gave him a hard shove away from Roy, stepping into the argument.

        "Chill out," Dean instructed, pushing his finger to Sam's chest as he made Sam continue to back up for a bit. He stared at him as Haley yelled in the background, her telling everyone to stop fighting. Her voice went unheard as Riley released a chuckle at what she was witnessing. Selena shifted beside her, a frown on her face.

        "Awww," Riley remarked, finally speaking up once again. "I was hoping to see the two of them throw down. Why'd you have to go and stop it?" Dean removed his finger from Sam and he looked at Riley, unamused. She smirked at him. "How rude. I thought I was being rather funny. Guess not." She was actually quite amused that she was getting under Dean's skin. She could only imagine what she could do or say that would really piss him off.

        Selena spoke up next and her protests were heard far better than Haley's had been. "We mustn't fight amongst ourselves. It makes us more vulnerable to an attack." She looked around at everyone and half-smiled when she noted that all of them were staring at her now. She looked towards Ben and Haley. "You are Ben and Haley, correct?" she asked them, recalling the conversation she and Riley had with the ranger sometime the previous day. Haley nodded, not speaking verbally. "Firstly, my name is Selena Grant and I am almost utterly sure my half-sister had introduced herself to you all before I had showed my face. With this finally out of the way, I would like to say that your missing brother... Tommy, correct?" Another nod from Haley. "I believe he is still alive. For now. I apologize if this news is both displeasing and satisfactory for the two of you, but with this creature that has gotten its grip on him, it is only a matter of time before he likely ends up deceased." She looked towards Roy next. "You should have a far more open mind set, Sir. There are many things in this world that exist and can cause harm to any one of us. Please, do attempt to try and believe, at least, a little bit of what we tell you so that we all remain on the same pace." She finally looked towards Dean and Sam. "About getting them to safety, we have no more time. It is becoming dark and we'd only be risking our lives further by trying to head back."

        Dean eyed her for another moment before he nodded. She was right and she was very different than any woman he had ever met. Ever. She was a bit intriguing, in a non-romantically related way. He was curious about her just a tad bit despite himself not wanting to be. He looked towards Ben, Haley, and Roy, his eyes shifting around between the three of them. He figured that Riley and Selena both knew everything about the Wendigo since they both seemed to know quite a bit. Well,  _Selena_  seemed to know quite a bit since she was the one letting out information in a much kinder fashion while Riley seemed to be more on the need-to-know basis sort of deal. "This thing is a good hunter in the day, but an unbelievable hunter at night," he told the three. "We'll never beat it, not in the dark. We need to settle in and protect ourselves."

        "How?" Haley asked, her attention towards Dean. As an explanation was given, Dean pulled out his father's journal and opened it, quickly locating the page that was needed. As he and Sam began to place symbols of protection around their campsite, Riley and Selena began collecting firewood with the help of Haley, them needing to create a fire because of day becoming night and because of it getting colder. As nightfall completely arrived, the campfire had been started and Ben, Haley, and a reluctant Riley were sitting by it. Haley poked the fire with a stick and looked towards Dean, unsure of the actions that were made as she watched him walk across the camp in front of her. "One more time, that's...?" She looked at the symbols that were now drawn on the ground. Riley rolled her eyes and held in a groan, mentally cursing at the girl for not having her ears open (for not listening closely the first time things were explained, this time being a third).

        "Anasazi symbols," Dean answered as he crouched down to create another symbol. "It's for protection. The Wendigo can't cross over them." Behind him, Roy was walking by and he laughed at this information, his rifle slung over his right shoulder. "Nobody likes a skeptic, Roy." He straightened up and he walked over to where Sam was sitting, towards the edge of the camp away from the others. Dean glanced towards his right as he approached Sam, locating Selena whom stood behind one of the symbols that he had created, her eyes towards the darkness of the forest and her arms crossed over her chest. Dean took a seat beside Sam and began speaking with him. "You want to tell me what's going on in that freaky head of yours?"

        Nearby, Selena continued to stare into the darkness before she released a low sigh and turned her attention elsewhere. Turning towards her left, she spotted the brothers speaking to one another, having their own little moment. She tilted her head slightly as she watched them talk, unable to hear anything. She turned further towards the left to see that Riley was uncomfortably sitting with Ben and Haley while Roy stood in front of her, him seemingly appearing to be attempting conversation with Riley. Turning her attention back towards the brothers, she stepped slightly closer and looked back towards the darkness, listening in to the conversation from where it was at. "...The way I see it, Dad's given us a job to do and I intend to do it," Selena heard Dean tell Sam. She glanced towards them and noticed that Dean was crouching in front of Sam, paying no attention towards her whatsoever.

        "Dean..." Sam shook his head as he stared at Dean with tears in his eyes. He was speaking no higher than a whisper but Selena still was managing to listen in. He sounded like he was in some sort of pain to her. "No. I gotta find Dad. I gotta find Jessica's killer." He shook his head some more as he looked towards the ground temporarily. "It's the only thing I can think about."

        "Okay. All right," Dean responded in a soft, quiet tone. Selena could tell that he was concerned for Sam just by the look in his eyes and she slowly began to come to the conclusion that the two of them were related, that they were in fact siblings like she was with Riley. She listened in more. "Sam, we'll find them. I promise. Listen to me. You've got to prepare yourself. I mean, this search could take a while. And all that anger," Dean slightly pushed Sam, "You can't keep it burning over the long haul. It's gonna kill you. You got to have patience, man."

        "How do you do it?" Sam chuckled weakly, his voice breaking further. "How does Dad do it?"

        Dean glanced away from Sam and towards where the others, minus Selena, were located. "Well, for one, them." Sam glanced towards the others as well. "I mean, I figure our family's so screwed to hell. Maybe we can help some others. It makes things a little bit more bearable." Dean looked back towards Sam and Sam continued looking towards where the others were located. "And I'll tell you what else helps." Sam looked back towards him. "Killing as many evil sons of bitches as I possibly can," Dean finished as he smiled a bit at Sam. Sam cracked a smile and he looked down towards the ground again.

        Selena decided that it was a good time for her to join in on the conversation that she had rudely been eavesdropping on. She took a few steps forward until she was standing behind Sam. "Excuse me," she gently said, causing Dean to look up at her and causing Sam to slightly turn his head to look towards her. "Pardon my intrusion," she continued as she stepped to be towards Sam's right before she sat comfortably down on her knees, not bothered by her jeans getting messy. She turned her attention towards Sam fully. "I could not help but overhear the ending of your conversation. To sum up what I had heard, I learnt that you both are related, that your names are Sam," she nodded towards Sam and then looked towards Dean, "And Dean, that you both are searching for your father, and that," she looked back towards Sam, "You lost someone you loved to some sort of creature and you wish to kill it. Am I correct?" Sam looked away from her, not answering and she smiled sadly. "Your silence means I am. And I wish to tell you that Dean is right." Sam looked back towards her, curious as to what she was going to say while he was slowly getting over his little mental breakdown. "You need patience. You cannot just go running off recklessly because you will either get yourself killed before you can succeed or you'll cause harm to the ones you love. I speak from experience."

        Sam looked at her, surprised. "You've dealt with this sort of thing before?" he questioned. "You've wanted revenge? You?" This was really hard for him to believe based on the mannerism she showed. She just didn't look the type to want revenge against anyone or anything. "I'm sorry but you just... You don't look the type," he apologized kindly, not wanting to upset her in any possible way.

        Selena continued to smile sadly and she shook her head slightly. "Not myself. Riley. She didn't necessarily get the ending that she wanted to the quick fiasco but she had gotten the next best thing. We were able to send the demon back to Hell a second time but not without the cost of..." She released a sigh and she looked away from Sam, looking down at her hands which were laying on her knees. "We had dealt with the demon beforehand but when she had returned unexpectedly, she..." Tears began to form in her own eyes as she recalled the past. "She, uh, killed our father, Riley's mother, and Riley's boyfriend." She looked up, turning towards each brother to see that both had an unknown expression on their faces. "I'm sure you are surprised that I am telling you this when we've only just met but it's only fair since I had eavesdropped rudely upon your conversation with one another. And another reason for why I am telling you this is because Riley had acted reckless while I had wished to be patient with things. However, we ended up doing things the way she wanted it and I ended up becoming harmed while the woman the demon was possessing was killed when the demon retaliated against us sending it back where it had come from. Because of these events, Riley and I officially became hunters." She half-smiled. "I suppose I should had mentioned that the two of us had long knew of the real dangers within the world first, hmm?"

        "...I'm sorry for your loss," Sam told her slowly. He didn't know what else to say to her after hearing all of that information. Additionally, he appreciated her concern towards him. Selena looked towards him and nodded.

        Dean stared at her for a moment before speaking to her. "No offense but, uh, you don't look like someone who'd become a hunter. Your rude half-sister, yes because she seems much more the type, but you? Not to be rude but other than your intelligence, I don't see why you're involved with this kind of life when you could've had something better." He was feeling disbelief towards why Selena would choose to deal with all of this shit when she could've had a far better life, one without such danger in it. He could agree with her becoming a hunter because of the events that had occurred to her and her half-sister but even then, he would had thought she'd choose the better life because of her mannerism.

        Selena turned her attention towards Dean and she smiled. "I don't find that offensive at all. Riley has told me of this before in the past and I quite agree. Normally, I presume, that hunters are very level-headed but additionally show great aggression and lack of innocence, much like the average human being. However, I lack the aggression and my innocence remains intact. While I do not lack hatred, I do not show it when facing any sort of creature that I find myself coming up against. I like to believe that most of these creatures have some kind of goodness within them. The ones that can communicate correctly. I am aware that I am far too kindhearted for this kind of life, but it has yet caused my death and I don't intend to change my personality in order to further strengthen my survival. I am still breathing thus far and it has been only a little over two years since I've began this life with Riley, and I don't intend on dying any moment soon. As for why I chose this life above a normal one, that's simple to explain. I chose this life because I want to help others. I want to save them and prevent as many deaths as I can. And I wasn't going to allow Riley to hunt on her own, and risk losing her as well."

        Dean glanced towards the campfire and his eyes locked with Riley's. Just as the last time, Riley was the first to break the eye contact. Dean looked back towards Selena. "Is she always this rude?" he asked curiously. Sam looked at him and smirked, giving him a certain look. Dean quickly caught it and rolled his eyes, speaking in a tone that made him appear annoyed. "What? I'm just asking, Sam. It doesn't hurt to ask. The woman has been a pain in the ass since she got here and I'd like to know why. That's all." Deep down, his real reasoning for his asking was that he just wanted to know if Riley really was naturally rude or if she just was being rude for the sake of the case.

        Selena let out a giggle and she shook her head. She could tell that Dean was attracted to Riley. "No, she is not. She's only this way for a multitude of reasons, the first being that she wishes to remain distant from those she believes she will see often because eventually, there will come a time where one or both of you will no longer exist, just as there will come a day where neither myself or Riley will exist. Secondly, she tends to be rude just to get under someone's skin and she mainly does this towards those she automatically hates like, uh..." She took a moment to recall the man's name. "...Roy. I believe that's his name."

        Upon hearing this information, Dean assumed that Riley hated him and he wanted to know why. He completely disregarded the information about how Riley was rude when she wanted to keep her distance from people she believed she'll see again, namely himself and Sam. "I get why she dislikes him so much but what the hell did I ever do to her?" Selena shrugged her shoulders and looked down at her hands again, not revealing anything further; she knew that Riley didn't dislike Dean but she didn't believe it was her right to reveal that.

        The sound of a twig cracking caught the attention of Dean, Sam, and Selena but the sudden cries for help from a male caught the attention of the others whom hadn't been alerted by the twig snap. Altogether, everyone stood up from where they had been sitting, if they had been sitting at all (Roy had been standing still). "Help me!" the male voice called from within the darkness that surrounded the campsite. "Please!" Instinctively, Dean pulled out his gun and cocked it, staring towards the darkness as Riley and Selena both reflexively placed their hands over where their individual flare guns were located while they all moved to be close to the campfire, some not moving because of already being at said campfire. "Help!" the voice continued crying out. Sam pulled out a flashlight, shining it into the trees but it didn't help him spot the Wendigo.

        "It's trying to draw us out. Just stay cool, stay put," Dean spoke calmly, his eyes shifting back and forth as he stared at the darkness in front of him.

        "I realize that but my feelings are going against my better judgement at the moment," Selena remarked softly but audibly, standing near Sam as she, and everyone else, looked towards the surrounding darkness. What she meant was that while she knew that she shouldn't go out there like a moron, her feelings towards wanting to help people was trying to convince her to go out there anyways. Thankfully, she knew better just like she knew better earlier, minus the fact that she had gone after everyone earlier instead of staying put because she didn't want anyone possibly getting harmed.

        Roy smirked to himself as he kept his rifle raised in front of him. He responded to what Dean had said, not to what Selena had commented. "Stay put? Instead the magic circle?" But his smirk soon vanished when the yells for help became more agitated before a growl was released, the growl being louder than all of the yelling. Roy pointed his gun towards where the sound came from. "Okay, that's no grizzly," he realized, appearing to finally be cautious.

        Haley reached over to her younger brother, grabbing onto his left hand as she attempted to comfort him. "It's okay. You'll be alright, I promise," she told him as she moved closer to him. She placed herself back on the log she had previously been sitting on and Ben silently sat down beside her. Another loud growl and the sudden gust of quick movement caused Haley to release a shriek but she remained where she was, Ben and herself clenching onto one another's hand tightly.

        As the growling intensified and the bushes rustled while the Wendigo rushed around the campsite, Roy spun around in a circle and fired three shots in total as he attempted to shot the creature while avoiding causing harm to the people around him. His last shot hit its mark and the Wendigo yowled. "I hit it!" Roy cried out victoriously as he immediately sprinted forward and into the darkness, leaving the protection circle because he wished to see what he had shot.

        "Roy, no!" Dean yelled as he moved forward towards where Roy had run off to. "No!" He hesitated at the edge of the protection circle but he didn't hesitate for long. He looked back towards everyone that remained in the circle and he pointed towards everyone but Sam. "Don't move," he instructed them before he took off running after Roy, Sam hot on his heels. Ignoring his instruction, Riley followed after them despite the protests and calls of her name from Selena, pulling out her flare gun as she ran. She followed hurriedly behind the brothers, whom may or may not had realized she was following, and she listened as Roy's loud speaking suddenly silenced. The brothers came to a stop after a moment as they realized the speaking had stopped, looking around for any sign of Roy, his corpse, or the Wendigo. "Roy!" Dean called out as he and Sam glanced around where they stood. Upon hearing Riley jog up behind them, they both quickly turned towards her as she came to a stop, flare gun raised in her grasp. Dean lowered his weapon as he stared at her intensely. "I told you to stay put!"

        Riley scoffed as she gave him a hard look, raising her flare gun further but keeping it pointed away from Dean and Sam. Better safe than sorry, in case the Wendigo showed up again unexpectedly. "Well, gee. I'm sorry for being the only one who was thinking clearly," she sarcastically remarked, nodding towards her flare gun. "I followed you dumbasses to make sure you didn't get yourselves killed, kind of like dumb o' Roy did. So, I believe a  _thank you, Riley, for being so thoughtful_  is deemed necessary." She hadn't risked her own safety because she didn't want to listen, she had risked her safety to make sure the two brothers were safe from harm.

        Dean walked past her, not saying a word of thanks to her. "We need to get back to camp." As he walked away, Riley made an exasperated expression before she turned on her heels and followed behind him, her flare gun still raised just in case. Sam sighed as he followed behind them, the three of them soon breaking into a sprint to get back to camp faster. Upon returning, Sam gave the awful news to everyone whom remained that Roy had been taken by the Wendigo and the news greatly terrified the Collins siblings, the two holding onto one another in a hug, searching for some sort of comfort with each other. Selena's reaction, however, was a simple sad frown.

**~(Approximately) November 11th, 2005; Blackwater Ridge, Colorado~**

        The night passed by slowly and no one was able to get much sleep, if any sleep at all. Daylight broke as time passed by further, a somber vibe in the air as a reminder that the group had lost someone. Sam was sitting up against a hollow tree stump, his father's journal in hand and he appeared to be staring at nothing in particular, looking defeated as he turned his gaze down towards the journal. Kneeling on the ground in front of a torn tent was Haley and across from her was Ben, sitting criss-cross (or Indian Style) while he silently messed with damaged goods. Dean stood towards Haley's left, looking towards the trees while Riley and Selena sat towards Haley's right, both of them close together and Riley was surprisingly not worrying about all the dirt, and moss, that was currently staining her white jeans. "I don't..." Haley began, trying to process last night's events. "I mean, these types of things, they aren't supposed to be real."

        Dean lightly touched one of the trees that bared claw marks from the Wendigo. "I wish I could tell you different." He removed his hand from the tree and he moved to be in front of Haley, crouching down before her and picking up a stick that laid nearby, fiddling with it. His back was turned towards Riley and Selena so he completely missed the envious look that crossed Riley's face for a split second, entirely unaware that Riley was wishing for his attention.

        "How do we know it's not out there watching us?" Haley asked Dean, her attention fully on him.

        "We don't," Dean admitted as he looked away from the stick he was holding. "But we're safe for now," he added as he noticed the frightened expression that had quickly appeared on Haley's face. It was best for them all to remain calm so that no one else did something stupid like Roy had.

        Haley opened her mouth to speak again but upon looking past Dean, she noticed the glare that Riley was sending her way and she closed her mouth, half-smiling at Dean before she looked away from him, deciding against asking him a question due to her slight fear of Riley. Dean stood up straight and took a few steps away from her before he stopped, staring at Sam as Sam walked towards him. "Hey," Sam kind of greeted as he came to a stop in front of Dean while everyone else stood up, "So, we've got half a chance in the daylight. And I, for one, want to kill this evil son of a bitch."

        "Well, hell, you know I'm in," Dean stated as he nodded approvingly. He glanced around, looking towards the others. When his eyes landed on Ben and Haley, they both had looked at one another before they looked back at Dean and nodded in agreement. Lastly, he turned his attention towards Riley and Selena. He didn't really need an answer from them, considering he already knew what it was, but he got an answer anyway.

        Riley smirked at him. "Don't even have to ask me twice. I'm game. Let's take the bastard out." Dean was tempted to crack a smile but he didn't and before he looked away from the half-sisters, Selena nodded in agreement with Riley and she smiled kindly at Dean.

        After everyone had moved in closer to where they were standing in an almost close circle, Sam flipped open the journal that he was still holding and he quickly turned it to the correct page. He showed the entry to Ben and Haley, beginning to explain everything to them as Riley and Selena curiously glanced at the journal. Dean stood quietly behind Sam. "Wendigo-" he began but was cut off by the sound of Riley groaning and smacking her hand against her face; he had pronounced it as Win-Deego again instead of Riley's preferred pronunciation, Win-Duhgo. He looked up as Selena placed her hand on Riley's shoulder and he noted her gesture for him to go on. "-Is a Cree Indian word. It means _evil that devours_."

        "They're hundreds of years old," Dean pitched in as he moved slightly closer to the group. Everyone turned their heads towards him, even Sam. "Each one was once a man, sometimes an Indian," he strode through the middle of the circle, breaking it as Sam stepped aside, Sam looking down at the journal while Ben and Haley kept their eyes on Dean, Riley and Selena unnecessarily doing the same as the four of them watched Dean gesture as he continued, "Or other times a frontiersman or a miner or a hunter."

        "You know, I liked it better when Sam was telling the story," Riley commented, smirking at Dean as he turned to look at her. She smirked more upon seeing the look on his face. And the only reason why she knew their names now was because Selena had told them to her the previous night after Roy had gone bye-bye. "He does it better. He just has that perfect tone for explaining bad news while you just..." She shrugged, continuing to smirk. "Well, you just seem to not give a damn and just say it like it is. Kind of like someone I  _personally_  know." She certainly hadn't lightened the blow to that girl last week about the girl's boyfriend being dead and gone, being more blunt about it than gentle. Dean didn't say anything in response to what she said but his eyes did narrow at her again.

        "How's a man turn into one of these things?" Haley questioned, not caring if she interrupted Riley saying more words or not. She watched Dean as he began picking up random items from the ground nearby.

        "Well, it's always the same," Dean began explaining as he leaned back up from having bent over to pick up something else. He turned towards Ben, Haley, Riley, and Selena, his attention mainly on Ben and Haley because they didn't know any of this information already. "During some harsh winter, a guy finds himself starving, cut off from supplies or help. Becomes a cannibal to survive, eating other members of his tribe or camp."

        "Like the Donner Party," Ben replied, finally speaking for the first damn time since they had been out there. His tone was flat and he sounded as though he was incredibly bored. His sudden spoken words shocked the hell out of Riley, her having not expected him to speak at all.

        "Dude, you can speak?" Riley questioned, her eyes wide a little bit. That brought everyone's attention back towards her. "I honestly thought you were mute or something because of your lack of speaking out loud. Holy shit. My bad, little man." She kind of felt bad for assuming he couldn't talk. And a bit embarrassed for making this known to everyone. She turned her gaze elsewhere as everyone continued staring at her and she managed to gesture towards Sam. "Please proceed with the rest of the explanation, Sam." Quite a bit of the group were taken aback by Riley speaking politely towards the end of her statement but Sam began speaking like she had instructed.

        "Cultures all over the world believe that eating Human flesh gives a person certain abilities. Speed, strength, immortality," Sam explained. He, and everyone else, missed the look that Riley shared with Selena, Selena having some sort of Immortality (being unable to grow older) from being an Immortal Human, the hybrid of an Immortal Being and a special or normal human.

        "If you eat enough of it, over years, you become this Less-Than-Human thing," Dean continued for Sam as he walked around the campsite. He moved to stand in front of Ben and Haley as Riley and Selena slightly shifted to stand a little ways away from the three. "You're always hungry," he finished.

        Tears brimmed in Haley's eyes as she stared at Dean. "So, if that's true, how can Tommy still be alive?" If these monsters were always hungry, why would it not have eaten Tommy by now? Why would it be searching for more food when it already had food?

        Selena broke her silence as she spoke gently to Haley, staring at her as Haley turned to look at Selena. "More than anything, a Wendigo knows how to last long winters without food. It hibernates for years at a time, but when it's awake, it keeps its victims alive. It, uh... It stores them so it can feed whenever it pleases." She frowned when she noticed Ben cringing at the thought as he turned to face Selena as well. Haley, in response, had her eyes wide in horror. Selena hesitated to continue, opening her mouth slightly. "...I apologize for this but, um,  _if_  your brother's still alive, it's keeping him somewhere dark, hidden, and safe. And the only way to find his..." She shook her head, backtracking. She was not about to continue speaking as if Tommy were dead. "The only way to find  _him_  is to track the Wendigo back to its hideout." She half-smiled when she noticed the slight thankful expression that quickly crossed Haley's horror-struck face; Haley was thankful that Selena didn't refer to Tommy as dead or possibly dead a second time.

        "And the only way for us to kill it is to basically light it on fire," Riley explained quickly, adding in the final piece of information that Ben and Haley needed to know of. "Which is why Selena and I have a flare gun in hand each. But it might be necessary to create a Molotov of sorts in case Selena or myself fails to hit it." Dean cleared his throat and she looked towards him. He help up the items that he had gathered, a can of lighter fluid, an empty beer bottle, and a white cloth, and he smirked at Riley. "Huh. Imagine that," Riley responded, still eyeing Dean. She smirked back at him. "You do have a brain after all." Dean's smirk faded and he glared at her.

        Before long, they were all heading through the woods again. Leading the way was Dean, Molotov Cocktail in his hand ready to be thrown when necessary. Haley was following behind him, Ben behind her, Selena behind Ben, Sam behind Selena, and Riley behind Sam. As they all walked in silence behind one another, Selena took notice of the claw marks and blood amongst the trees that they were going by. She hadn't been the only one to notice such, her half-sister and temporary brother Hunter partners silently noticing this as well. At one point, Sam somehow managed to get ahead of the group as they came across a clearing and he had come to a pause by a tree, staring up at it. Dean noticed this and he approached his younger brother, Selena and Riley staying by the Collins siblings. "What is it?" Dean asked him as he walked up behind him.

        As Dean looked up, he began to notice that the claw marks and blood were now marking  _every_  single tree that surrounded them. He was coming to the same conclusion that Sam had gotten to but at a slow pace. As he and Sam walked around with their eyes towards where the marks laid high on the trees, Sam began speaking to Dean. "You know, I was thinking those claw prints, so clear and distinct..." He let out a humorless chuckle. "...They were almost too easy to follow," Sam finished. The Wendigo had wanted them to follow it, it wanted them further into its territory. At that exact moment, the growl of the Wendigo started up and the brothers whipped around, staring out towards the woods that surrounded them. Ben, Haley, Riley, and Selena eyed the woods as well, the Collins siblings eyeing said woods in fear while Riley and Selena eyed said woods with much caution. Backing up towards one another, the group was huddled together as the Wendigo zoomed around them, causing the mini trees and bushes to rustle from the quick movement. Haley backed towards a tree and she heard the sound of dripping, along with feeling something dripping onto her right shoulder, and she slowly looked to see what it was. She looked up towards where the blood was dripping from and her face twisted into one of grand horror as she released a scream while leaping away from the tree in a hurry. Immediately, dropping from the tree was Roy's body and it hit the ground with a loud thud, bloody and broken, and the impact it made when it suddenly fell caused Haley to fall backwards and onto the forest floor. Sam quickly moved to help Haley up. "You okay?" he asked her and she nodded frantically as she was helped to her feet.

        While Sam had moved to help Haley stand, Dean had moved in a hurry to examine Roy, crouching down beside him. Riley had moved with him, standing behind him and looking over his shoulder with a slight look of dismay on her face. Behind her, Selena was silently asking for Ben to grab ahold of her hand (she was gesturing her open palm towards him) and he did so without any hesitation, much fear within him. "His neck's broken," Dean declared as he quickly stood up, brushing his hands off on his jeans. Gathering everyone around quickly, he began urging them to run. "Run, run! Go, go, go, go, go!"

        All of them began to run in the direction they had come from, making a mad dash to get away from the area. Dean, Haley, and Riley managed to take the lead with their running, sprinting through the trees directionless. Still tightly grasped in Dean's hand was the Molotov he created. As the three ran ahead, Ben, Sam, and Selena ran at a slightly slower pace but for good reason. Ben and Selena were holding hands so their running was a bit compromised and with Ben tripping over a tree root, falling over and nearly bringing Selena down with him, their running became more compromised. Behind them, Sam caught up and quickly helped Selena with getting Ben back on his feet, remaining behind them as he urged them to keep on running. However, the sound of Haley's distant scream caused Ben and Selena to release hands, the two of them and Sam breaking into a faster sprint in the direction Dean, Haley, and Riley had gone. Reaching a ridge, the three slowed their speed as they looked around, not finding Dean, Haley, or Riley in sight. Sam took several steps forward and bent down, leaning back up with a sigh as he held a broken beer bottle and torn white cloth in his hand. Selena released a whimper upon spotting the broken bottle in Sam's hand and she looked around the woods, standing close to Ben.

        Although it was futile, the three of them called out to their missing loved ones as they remained in that area for a short time. The Wendigo had taken Dean, Haley, and Riley just in a matter of seconds. Why it had chose to take them instead of Ben, Sam, and Selena was an easy answer to come up with: the Wendigo considered Ben, Sam, and Selena to be the weaker ones of the bunch, and it had grabbed ahold of the ones that were the strongest, more reckless of the bunch. As time slowly passed on, the three that remained began to follow along the nearest path despite not knowing where to go because of there being a lack of a trail. "If it keeps its victims alive, why would it kill Roy?" Ben suddenly asked Sam and Selena, breaking the silence that had been created after the futile yelling.

        "Honestly, I think because Roy shot at it, he pissed it off," Sam answered as he looked around. He felt a hand come down on his left shoulder gently and he turned to see Selena giving him a worried half-smile. He managed to half-smile back at her and he nodded shortly, silently thanking her for the silent attempt of comfort. Not that he didn't like her company before but he was beginning to like her company a lot more than he had. He liked her personality, liked how she could remain herself and not get corrupted by the life of being a hunter, and he was actually hoping that he'd see her again in the future during another case. What he was feeling was towards the friendly and more brotherly-sisterly nature than it was towards the romantically attracted nature; he was beginning to feel a slight urge to not only protect Selena but to help her out whenever he could.

        Selena spoke up next, turning her attention towards Ben. "I agree with Sam. You all had noticed how Riley reacted when Roy nearly caused harm to me accidentally. She was provoked. She had retaliated. That is exactly what happened with the Wendigo when Roy managed to shoot it. It had been provoked and it retaliated against Roy." She tilted her head slightly as Ben looked towards her sadly. "We'll find your siblings." She looked towards Sam again. "We'll find all of them and they will be just fine." She looked back towards Ben and frowned when she saw that he was walking a little ahead of them suddenly. "Ben," she walked after him, "You mustn't wander onward unless Sam and myself are very close behind you. We don't need another one of us getting taken." She hummed as she watched Ben crouch down and she attempted to look over his shoulder. Sam walked up behind her, staring around her curiously. "What is it, Ben?" Selena asked.

        Ben turned towards them with a smile on his face. He held up his hand, showing them both a blue peanut M&M. "They went this way," he stated with much confidence. Dean had been carrying a large bag of peanut M&Ms and because of that, a trail was made that most likely would lead them straight to where the Wendigo was located along with everyone that was missing. Selena stared at the M&M, momentarily confused before she cracked a smile, realizing exactly what Ben realized.

        Sam took the M&M from Ben's hand and released a chuckle, smiling a bit himself. "It's better than bread crumbs." He tossed the round snack away and began to lead the way, following the trail of M&Ms at a fast pace. Behind him, Ben and Selena followed, Selena being at the back of the line. The trail lead them deeper and deeper into the woods, eventually bringing them to a steep ridge littered with barrel and old metal material. Sam scooted down the ridge, almost completely on his hands and knees. Ben followed in the same manner but once both were at the bottom, Selena came sliding down, first on her feet and then on her ass as she lost her balance. Ben and Sam both turned towards her, helping her up to her feet. "You okay?" Sam asked quietly. Selena nodded with a smile, a very amused expression on her face because she had enjoyed doing that accidentally.

        Taking several steps forward, the three of them found themselves standing in front of an abandoned mine-shaft, the entranced mostly blocked off by old wooden boards, and an old sign hung against what remained of the wood, the sign reading  **WARNING! DANGER! DO NOT ENTER! EXTREMELY TOXIC MATERIAL!**. Sam approached the opening that had been created and looked back towards the two that followed him, shrugging slightly before turning back towards the entrance. He was about to manuever himself into the mine when Selena grabbed onto his jacket, having had moved closer to him. He looked at her and opened his mouth to speak but stopped when he noticed that she was holding out her flare gun with her opposite hand. He looked at her questionably. "Remember how I said that I don't use weapons such as guns?" she asked gently. She half-smiled. "That would additionally mean that I have never fired a weapon and that would mean that I would not be a very grand shot with this. If anyone is to fire this off, it should be you and not myself." Sam, completely understanding what she wanted and what she was saying, nodded and gently took the flare gun from her hand. Upon her releasing her hold on his jacket, Sam finally entered the mines with Selena, and then Ben, following after him.

        Sam lead the way, bringing out his flashlight and lighting up the way as the three of them began to walk down the very dark mine-shaft. As they walked along several steps, they heard the sound of the Wendigo growling and in an instant, Sam had turned off his flashlight and pulled Ben, and Selena, against a wall of a tunnel. Selena gave Ben a hug as the young boy released a whimper, pulling his face into her clothing to keep him from making a louder noise as the form of the Wendigo was silhouetted from the little light that shined into the mine. The Wendigo continued down into another tunnel and Selena released her hold on Ben. Placing themselves back on the track that they had been previously following, they once again began walking further along the mine-shaft. As they continued, the wood beneath them began to crack and they immediately froze where they stood. Before they could even attempt to removed themselves from the creaking wood, the wood gave way beneath them and the three of them fell through the floor with a rather loud thump.

        Sam had landed on his back, Ben had landed face first towards a pile of skulls, and Selena had landed on her side atop of a pile of bones that cracked beneath her weight. Groaning, Selena sat up slowly and let out a low hiss from the pain that shot through her side. As Sam pulled himself to his feet, Ben lifted himself up and let out a cry, jumping back into Sam as he moved away from the skulls. Selena pulled herself to her feet and she rubbed her side as she watched Sam comfort Ben quietly. "It's okay, it's okay, it's okay," Sam whispered. Selena glanced around as her eyes, along with Ben's and Sam's eyes, adjusted to the darkness that surrounded them. As the three of them glanced around, they all spotted four figures hanging from the beams holding up the mines. Dean, Haley, and Riley were there along with Tommy. "Dean," Sam said as he approached where Dean hanged. Ben and Selena followed after them, Ben going to stand before Haley while Selena moved to stand before Riley. "Dean," Sam repeated as Dean groaned and winced after opening his eyes. "Hey, you okay?" Sam asked him.

        Blood was smeared across Dean's face. Dean let out another groan. "Yeah," he answered. Sweat appeared to be dripping down his face. As Sam helped Dean get down, Dean let out more groans and whimpers. And as Sam supported Dean's weight, helping him to another section of the tunnel they were in, Ben was helping Haley down from where she hanged, having woken her up. Lastly, Selena was helping Riley down and Riley hadn't exactly woken up entirely yet, though she did wince in pain every few seconds as Selena moved her.

        "...You certainly don't have a bedside manner, do ya?" Riley questioned Selena, letting out a huff of breath as she laid her head against Selena's shoulder, beginning to wake up further. She crackled a smile as Selena moved her to be near Dean and Sam, Ben and Haley towards their right. "Bout time, huh, Selena?" Riley continued her questioning. Selena looked at her questionably as she, with the help of Sam, helped Riley sit to rest momentarily, her being place rather close to Dean. Riley stared up at Selena, continuing her speaking as Dean and Sam listened in to what she had to say. "You're usually the one getting hurt this badly and here I am, finally understanding the pain you go through when I'm unable to keep you safe from harm. I have no idea how you do it but kudos to you for being able to handle this shit better than I am as of the moment." She let out another wince as she shifted slightly. "So," her eyes looked around, "Where is that bastard?"

        "It's gone for now," Sam answered for her as he crouched in front of his injured brother. He looked away from Riley, looking towards Dean and spotted that Dean was staring at Riley. Sam shook his head slightly and gently pat Dean on the shoulder. Dean looked towards him, releasing another groan as he did because he moved too quickly. "Are you sure you're alright?" Sam asked him, great concern in his tone.

        "I'll live," Dean responded. He glanced back towards Riley and felt tempted to ask if she was alright but he didn't say a single word to her. Why would it matter? She, seemingly, hated him. He looked towards Ben and Haley slowly, fighting back the rest of his groans and winces as he watched Haley throw down the rope that had been tied around her wrists. He continued to watch as Ben and Haley moved to stand before a hanging figure, the hanging figure being Tommy. As Dean watched silently, Sam noticed that Dean was looking behind him and he turned, soon moving to be standing behind Ben and Haley. And as Haley sobbed because she believed Tommy to be dead, Tommy's head suddenly jerked up and he let out a loud gasp for air, causing Haley to let out a frightened shriek and she jumped back into Sam, gripping his arm for a moment before she placed her hands on Tommy's waist and Sam cut down Tommy.

        "Huh," Riley grunted out, catching the attention of Dean and Selena. She was watching the Collins siblings reunite and it brought a smile to her face. "If this reunion gets any sweeter, I'm gonna start crying." Selena smiled at her and gently wrapped her arms around Riley, giving her a hug. Immediately, Riley's eyes started watering as she thought about how much she must've worried Selena. "You bitch," she joked, her voice cracking. Selena pulled away and playfully glared at Riley. Riley wiped her eyes before the tears could start flowing. "Still have that flare gun? We're definitely going to be needing it now." Selena shook her head and gestured towards Sam. Riley's eyebrow raised. "Should I be asking why you gave it to Sam?" Selena gave her a look and Riley raised her hands up in defense, hissing as she did so because of the pain she was in. "Sorry." She lowered her hand and felt for her holster. She let out an annoyed groan when she didn't feel it on her person but immediately sighed in relief when she spotted it laying beside her with the flare gun still within it. "Hope it's still functional," she commented as she removed the flare gun from the holster before she, with difficulty despite Selena's help, stood up. She looked towards Dean and noticed him staring at her but he quickly looked away after a second and began getting up himself. "Hey," Riley began and Dean looked towards her as he stood fully. She held out the flare gun and half-smiled. "Pray it still works and don't miss," she told him.

         Dean was astonished. He never thought she'd be nice towards him in any sort of way. He wasn't exactly sure why she was giving the flare gun to him when she could use it herself but he took it from her anyways. "I never miss," he told her with a smirk. Most of the time, he didn't add to the end of that sentence. Even professionals miss their mark but saying that would make him sound less impressive. Riley rolled her eyes as his reply but continued half-smiling at him before she looked back towards Sam and the Collins siblings, Selena standing close to her right.

        With no time to spare any further, the seven of them began heading down the tunnel they were within, trying to get to the exit all while trying to find and end the Wendigo. Dean was moving with little difficulty, flare gun in hand as he took the lead of everyone and his left arm was hugging his torso as he moved. Behind him, Sam walked in front of the Collins siblings with a flare gun raised while Riley and Selena trailed behind the Collins siblings, Riley wincing at every movement she made. Ben and Haley were supporting Tommy's weight as he limped along with them. Growls echoed throughout the tunnel and they all came to a complete stop. "Looks like someone's home for supper," Dean commented.

        "We'll never outrun it," Haley stated as she slightly shifted her hold on one of Tommy's arms. She was growing worried again, growing fearful again. The Wendigo was fast and it would catch up to them. The Wendigo would kill them all. She just couldn't keep positivity in her head anymore at this point.

        "You aren't very optimistic but you're not wrong either," Riley commented. She rubbed her arm as she stood behind everyone. "So, if anyone has a plan that involves little-to-no-casualties, feel free to speak up at any moment. Any moment that's soon." She had a plan of her own in mind but she really didn't want to use it. She didn't want to frighten anyone by using her power over fire. What would they think of her, then? Because of how she acted, she probably wasn't on the best of terms with any of them but it'll likely be made worse if they found out her secret. Hell, Dean would probably shoot her and not miss like Roy had. They'd probably consider her a monster like the Wendigo and she just didn't want that to happen. She didn't want to be feared by them. But if she really had to, she'd put her life and sanity on the line to keep this group and her sister safe, no doubt whatsoever and just go from there.

        Dean looked towards everyone and he exchanged looks with Sam. "You thinking what I'm thinking?" he asked his younger brother.

        Sam nodded. "Yeah, I think so." Whatever they had in mind was unknown to everyone around them. The growling continued to echo through the tunnel and the Collins became more frightened than they had already been. Selena and Riley shared at look with each other, Selena sharing a look that displeased Riley and caused Riley to shake her head; Selena wanted her to use her power but Riley was entirely against using it unless it was the completely last resort. Selena's expression turned into one of disappointment and she looked away from Riley, shaking her head. Any other time, Riley wouldn't hesitate to flame-on but she sure as hell was hesitating now, like it mattered if these people feared her or not.

        "Alright, listen to me." Dean took a few steps away from the group before turning towards them again. His eyes were focused on Ben, Haley, and Tommy. "Stay with Riley, Sam, and Selena. They're gonna get you out of here." When questioned by Haley on what he was planning to do, he just winked at her and he began heading down the tunnel quickly as he turned away from them, yelling as he went. "It's chow time, you freaky bastard! Yeah, that's right! Bring it on, baby! I taste good!" As he vanished from everyone's sight, he gestured for them to go. All of them could hear him yelling more in the distance as he grew further away.

        "That man right there is either dumb as shit or as tough as nails," Riley muttered under her breath. She looked away from where Dean had vanished and she eyed the back of Haley's head. "Lucky bitch," she mouthed to herself, biting her tongue lightly. She was a bit jealous that Dean had winked at Haley. She mentally scoffed at herself as she remembered that hunters don't stay in one place for long so whatever he wants with Haley, whether it were a kiss or an one night stand, wasn't going to last long. She was still jealous about that, though.

        "Alright, come on!" Sam called to them. He had moved down a different tunnel, scouting ahead. "Hurry!" He gestured for them to follow him. Everyone moved quickly after Sam as he lead them through this tunnel, Riley and Selena bringing up the rear. They moved as quickly as they could but with Tommy's injuries being worse than those whom had also been harmed, they weren't able to move as quickly as they would had liked. As they went further and further down the tunnel, another growl ensued but this time, it was very close instead of being very distant. Sam raised his flare gun, pointing it towards the tunnel towards their left before pointing it towards the tunnel on their right. Approaching the tunnel on the right, he turned to the others and gestured with his head towards the tunnel towards everyone else's left. He stared at Selena, trusting her the most. "Get them out of here." Selena opened her mouth to protest but he interrupted her. "Go! Go, go!"

        Despite not wanting to, Selena pushed the Collins siblings forward towards the left tunnel with Riley trailing behind her. However, she looked back as they got further down the tunnel and, without thinking, she stopped and ran back, heading to where Sam had gone. She could hear Riley yell her name but she ignored it and hoped that Riley would continue leading everyone out to safety. As she grew closer to where Sam was, she heard the hiss of the Wendigo before the sound of the flare gun went off, the light brightening the darkness as it missed its target. Seeing the Wendigo and its ugly form as it moved away from the fire but still towards Sam, Selena quickly raised her hand and sent it flying back into the wall of the mines when she made sure that Sam wasn't looking towards her. Sam, however, did fall over backwards in startlement at what just occurred, his eyes having been on the Wendigo the entire time. Running up to Sam, she quickly helped him up. "We must attempt to escape while we can!"

        Entirely uncertain as to what had occurred before his eyes, Sam got up with no questions asked and he ran alongside Selena as they tried to catch up with the others. And when they did catch up, Sam and Selena both began pressing Ben, Haley, and Tommy forward hurriedly, Riley a little ahead of everyone because she was now leading. "Hurry!" Sam yelled. "Hurry!" As they hurried down the tunnel, they could hear the sounds of movement behind them as the Wendigo chased them, it having quickly recovered from the telepathic assault. The group reached the end of the tunnel but it was a dead end and Sam immediately took a protective stance in front of everyone, holding his arms out. If he was going to die, he might as well go out protecting the people behind him like any decent hunter would.

        The Wendigo began to approach them, moving very slowly as if it wanted to take its time in killing all of them. It was hunched over as it grew closer before it lifted itself upward, roaring at the ceiling as it extended its arms. The little light that shined through the boards above it revealed further that the creature was large, entirely skin and bone, its limbs long and its nails so sharp, so long that they looked like claws. Overall, the Wendigo was hideous and it was preparing to dine on each of them, one by one. While Ben, Haley, and Tommy cowered, Selena moved to take a stance beside Sam as she chose to sacrifice herself for the innocent since Riley was too scared to save them all. As the Wendigo took another step closer, Riley clenched her fist and hoped that Dean would reveal himself so that she would not have to use her pyrokinesis. When it took another step forward, Riley just about shoved herself past Sam and Selena but stopped herself when she heard a very familiar voice. "Hey!" The Wendigo spun around and as soon as it did, it let out a cry as it was shot in the abdomen by Dean with the remaining flare gun. Flames covering its entire body, the Wendigo cried out in pain as it died, its burning corpse soon crumbling onto the ground upon its vanquish. "Not bad, huh?" Dean asked as he stared at the group.

        Riley let out a loud sigh of relief. "It took you long enough, you son of a bitch!" She wrapped her arms around her younger sister from behind, fist pumping the air as she laid her head on Selena's shoulder. "Oh, sweet victory!" Selena let out a laugh as a smile broke out on her face, more laughter following suit that came from both brothers and from the Collins siblings.

**~(Approximately) November 11th, 2005; Lost Creek Trail, Colorado~**

        The Winchesters, the Collins, and the Grant-Piers siblings had managed to return to civilization after dealing with the Wendigo. Nightfall had come to pass as an officer interviewed Ben Collins, asking him of what had occurred while he and the others were out in the woods. Behind him, Sam nodded in agreement with absolutely everything that Ben was lying about. Nearby, Dean and Haley spoke by an ambulance that held Tommy. Leaning against an Audi TT was Riley and Selena, the two of them watching as the professionals did their duty. Riley and Selena didn't speak a word to each other as they watched Ben and Sam approached Dean and Haley. And Selena, when glancing towards Riley, didn't ignore the envy that crossed Riley's face for several seconds when Haley kissed Dean on the cheek.

        Riley turned her attention towards Selena as Ben and Haley entered the ambulance to be with Tommy. She studied her expressions that crossed her face and when she saw that mostly happiness appeared, she looked to see what Selena was staring at and spotted the Winchesters leaning against the back of an Impala. "Nice car," Riley mumbled. She looked back towards Selena. "Why are you happy?" she asked her.

        "Hmm." Selena moved her attention to Riley and tilted her head slightly. Riley raised her eyebrow, waiting for her to say something. Selena smiled at her. "I am happy because I believe that we have met some new friends. I am happy because we saved lives today. I am happy because I just am. I don't know how else to explain it." She looked back towards Dean and Sam, watching them speak to each other. "I suppose I am glad that we didn't have to work this case alone. This was something new to us both, working with other Hunters and I would love to do this again if possible. I enjoyed it, despite the circumstances." She looked back towards Riley again. "Did you?"

        Riley wasn't exactly sure how to answer that question. She was a bitch almost the entire time to everyone, both enjoying and regretting that decision. She enjoyed the ending of the case when she made everyone laugh somehow and when the Wendigo was killed. She didn't enjoy that she had gotten hurt and she rubbed her bandaged arm as she thought about that. "...I guess so. It was... Tolerable." She groaned inwardly as she realized that she slightly sounded like Selena when she talked. "Whatever. Who cares if I enjoyed it or not. The truth remains the same. We're never seeing them again." She looked away from Selena just as the Winchesters looked in the direction of the two of them. She immediately averted her gaze. "I'll give you five minutes to talk to Sam but that's all. Anyone with eyes could tell that you two have taken some sort of liking to each other." She removed herself from the car and she began to walk around to the driver's seat, pulling her keys from her pocket. As she fumbled with them, she heard Selena walk away from the car. Releasing a huff, she began singing softly to herself. "Carry on, my wayward son. For there'll be peace when you are done." She heard someone approaching her as she opened the door but she ignored them, assuming that it was an officer heading back to his car. "Lay your weary head to rest. Don't you cry no more," she sung. She was about to began singing more of the song and about to sit down in the driver's seat when she was interrupted.

        "No," Dean remarked. Riley spun around to face him, looking at him questionably. His eyes were wide with surprise and he was shaking his head, making faces as he spoke. "No way. You know that song? That's impossible. How could  _you_ know that song?" He continued shaking his head. "You can't know that song." He stopped his head shaking, staring at her as he remained in denial.

        Riley stared at him, amused. "Are you done with your piss-fit, Princess? Yes, I know the song. It's a classic. I wouldn't had been singing it if I hadn't known what it was. And if you're still in denial, I listen to _AC/DC, Metallica, Def Leppard, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Bon Jovi, KISS_ , and many, many others." She crossed her arms as she continued staring at him. "Do you always miss the complete obvious?"

        Dean studied her for a moment. "Name eight  _AC/DC_ songs and I just might call a truce between us." The two of them certainly hadn't been getting along since the moment they officially met. But Dean was willing to look past that if she could prove that she knows more than just three songs from one of the groups she listed.

        Riley rolled her eyes but decided to do as he wished. " _Fire Your Guns, Girl's Got Rhythm, You Shook Me All Night Long, Highway To Hell, Back In Black, T.N.T., Hells Bells,_  and _She's Got Balls._  There. Done. Is that all? Or are you going to ask me to name eight songs from each of 'em?"

        Dean blinked and stared at her with wide eyes for a moment before he nodded, making a face. "That was impressive, I guess." He held his hand out to her. "Truce?" Riley pretended to think about it before smiling and shaking his hand, nodding. Releasing her hand, he gazed away from her for a moment before looking back at her. "Honestly, I thought you'd like  _Spice Girls_  or  _The Pussycat Dolls_."

        "Firstly, I'm surprised that  _you_  even know of those groups and that makes me a little suspicious," Riley told him, speaking teasingly. "And secondly, I do like those groups. They have some nice songs." Honestly, she loved almost any type of music, as long as the beat and lyrics were fantastic to her. And it was an added bonus if the members of a group or the solo artist was very attractive.

        Dean glared at her half-playfully. "Don't make me take back the truce." Riley smiled and laughed a little, uncrossing her arms as she looked down at her feet. Dean smiled a little, kind of enjoying the second decent conversation the two of them had shared. His smile faded, however, as he thought about when he'd see this confusing woman again. And then, he began thinking about how he was going to say goodbye to her. But while he was dreading that he'd probably never see her again, he was also happy about it because while he sort of liked that he and Sam had worked together with Riley and Selena, he had also hated it and wanted things to go back to normal. Furthermore, he knew that he needed to forget about this woman and go back to being focused with finding his father with Sam. "Listen, uh, you take care of your sister," he began saying his goodbye. "I don't know how she manages to remain like she is but make sure she stays that way."

        Riley placed her hand on her chest. "Awww," she said. She removed her hand from her chest and placed it on Dean's left shoulder. "She got to you, too, huh?" Dean, confused suddenly, stared at her as she removed her hand from him. "Lots of people have told me exactly what you said, Dean, and they weren't even hunters. Selena just has that personality that makes you hope for the best or makes you want to protect her until the day you die." She swung her arm out a bit as she gestured. "Basically, she's an innocent child that a parent would protect from any sort of danger. Except with Selena, she's an adult." She released a sigh and placed her hand on the driver's door that was still open. "But yeah, of course I'll take care of her. As you know, she's all I have left." She was aware that Selena told Dean and Sam about their reason for becoming hunters. She half-smiled at him. "Take care of yourself, Dean. Sam, too." She turned away from him and got into her car at last, closing the door behind her. Dean kept his gaze on her for a moment before he turned and walked away, heading over to the Impala as Selena walked away from it.

        When Dean had walked over to Riley, Selena had gone over to the Impala to speak with Sam. She smiled kindly at him as she approached him and came to a stop in front of him, staring up at him. "How do you do it?" Sam suddenly, and quickly, asked her. She tilted her head, not sure of what he meant. "How can you remain so...you despite everything you go through?" he asked, being more specific. He didn't bother asking her if she had seen what he saw in the mines when the Wendigo was suddenly thrown into the wall by an invisible force. He had decided that he must had just been seeing things. Right now, he just wanted to know how Selena was managing to remain, well, intact.

        Selena smiled as she straightened back up. "I'm not so sure of that myself. I suppose it is just part of my nature. Being kind, being cool and collected is what comes naturally to me. Always has been from what I can remember." Her gaze moved from Sam as she continued. "I surely hope that I remain this way but even those like me eventually become corrupted in some sort of way. Only just a matter of time." She wasn't oblivious to the fact that she was vulnerable to corruption. Anyone when any sort of innocence would always be vulnerable to such a thing. And no one could ever avoid it when the time came to be corrupted.

        Sam nodded but his expression revealed that he didn't much like hearing that information. "Well, I, for one, hope that's in the very distant future." He didn't like the thought of her being corrupted, of her being different than she was right now. Very quickly, Selena had eased her way into his heart somehow and he didn't want anything bad to happen to her. "Do you have a phone?" he asked her. She nodded slightly. "Can I see it?" Although she was confused, she pulled her phone from the pocket of her denim vest and handed it to him. After messing with it, he handed it back and she looked at it. She quickly realized that he had given her his contact information. "If you and your sister ever need help with anything at all, just give me a call and we'll come as quickly as we can," Sam told her.

        Selena looked up from the phone and smiled at him. "Same goes for you and your brother. If you need either of us, call. We'll be happy to help." She shrugged slightly afterwards. "Well,  _I'll_  be happy to help. Riley's... Well, she's Riley." Sam chuckled and nodded in understanding. Selena continued to smile. "Take care, Sam. I hope we meet again real soon." With that said, she turned away from him and headed back over to her sister's car, walking past Dean as she went. Phone still in hand, she quickly sent a text to Sam, one that said _thanks_ , so that he had her number. She quickly got into the passenger's seat of Riley's car and as Riley drove away from the ranger's station, Selena watched the Winchester brothers fade into the distance as she stared at the rearview mirror...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trivia:
> 
> 1) The real fun has finally begun, my lovely readers. Dean and Sam Winchester have officially entered the building and rarely will be leaving it. Our true storyline has begun but the secondhand storyline will continue onward in the future to come (more fancy way of saying the original chapters will come along slowly from now on instead of constantly). I can honestly say that this fanfiction will be the most fun to make and the longest I'll ever make in my lifetime. Fingers crossed that this will make it to over one-to-three million words.
> 
> 2) I believe I kept the brothers in line, character personality and dialogue wise. I figured that Dean would be more reluctant than Sam to work with others while Sam would be happy to work with others, especially since I believe that around this time, Sam was obsessed with finding Azazel (whom killed their mother and his lover) and their father, John Winchester, so I figured he would be happy to have things go a bit faster with new helping Hunter hands. (What you read next was previous just added) And then I had ended up making it where Selena had already entered the heart of Sam because of her unique mannerism and I suppose I could say the same for Dean (don't give me that look that says this isn't realistic; we all have someone in our life that we immediately allowed into our hearts).
> 
> 3) With Riley's behavior towards the brothers, I made her very reluctant and mostly unkind because she just doesn't want to grow close to anyone at all out of fear of losing them eventually. And I decided to bring out the goodness that is really her towards the end because, hey, they just finished a case together and survived so some kindness needed to be shown. 'Least now you know that you'll likely be seeing Riley like how most people are (having a good side and bad side). With Selena's behavior, she will always be kind towards anyone no matter what their personality is, as long as the person can speak (meaning they aren't a mindless monster) and they aren't an adult ghost ('cause she currently fears ghosts).
> 
> 4) Not very often will I mention the attire of the brothers. Probably. Actually, it's more like I won't mention the full on attire of the not so main characters. So, yeah, I will be putting out the attires of both the half-sisters and the brothers as often as I can but sometimes, those descriptions will be shortened somehow (examples of what I might put: all plaid, all black, casual wear, formal wear, etc).
> 
> 5) Feedback is appreciated and preferably within the discussion/review/comment section of each chapter. I'll accept any suggestions for original chapters happily and will make very minor changes to them. I'll accept suggestions for references, depending on what they are and if I can manage to make the reference occur. If you ask and depending on what it is, I may allow you to follow the plot of an original chapter for your own story as long as credit is given and the same goes for the species of Immortal Beings if you were to want them to make a guest appearance within your story. Lastly, depending on if I am busy or not, I may help out with anything you wish to have help with.


	7. Dead in the Water

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Coincidentally, Dean and Sam Winchester meet up with the Grant-Piers half-siblings, Riley Piers and Selena Grant. The four hunters, once again, find themselves working together to solve a case involving mysterious deaths that revolve around water.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Original and Unoriginal Content/Dialogue, Errors of Any Kind, Long Chapter Ahead Peoples and Many More to Come, Unoriginal Not-So-Important Various Character Introductions, Difficulty With Some Descriptions of Character Appearances/Scenery, Possibility of Incorrect Information, Possibility of Out-of-Character Moments, Low Possibility of Unrealistic Actions or Reactions, High Possibility of Realistic Actions or Reactions, Some Violence, Few Scenes From Episode Are Missing, Character Death of Characters We Don't Care Much About (Forgot To List This Last One Previously For Roy's Death; Might Not Continue With Listing This Because This Is Supernatural, Several Someones Die Almost Every Episode), Changes Were Made to Episode (Placement of Buildings or Objects May Be Different to Better Fit Within Chapter, Etc.), Originality May Get A Little Effy Towards The End
> 
> The description of this fanfiction has been changed to better fit what this fanfiction is about. And this fanfiction is mainly about Riley Piers and Selena Grant being hunters. Although Juliet Grant will eventually become a starring character in this fanfiction, I did not mention her in the description due to limits for words and due to the fact that she will not be shown often for a while now (these first two seasons).
> 
> Nina Dobrev as Selena Grant  
> Hayden Panettiere as Riley Piers

_I know when you're sleeping_  
_I know the things you're dreaming_  
_I love it when you're weeping_  
_Even death can't stop this feeling_  
_And I know you will never give up and die_

_(Lullaby of a Dead Man : Elena Siegman)_

* * *

**~(Approximately) November 20th, 2005; Lake Manitoc, Wisconsin~**

      Dean Winchester pulled his black '67 Chevrolet Impala up in front of a cabin household, the house being made of brown-wood and a red rooftop. Shutting off the Impala's engine, Dean and his younger brother, Sam Winchester, exited the vehicle, closing the doors behind them at the same exact moment. The reason why they were there was really simple; they had found another case and it just so happened to revolve around this location that they currently were walking in. From a newspaper, the Winchester brothers had learnt that a young female named Sophie Carlton had entered the lake but she had never stepped back out, her body never being found and her death was ruled as an  _accidental_  drowning. And not only that, but she was the third victim of drowning within that lake, not the first so that rose some extra suspicions.

        As they walked up to the cabin household that was surrounded by everything nature had to offer, Dean noticed a very familiar car parked right beside the building. However, he didn't think much of it because all he had on his mind was working this case and killing whatever monster of the week it was, like usual whenever these things popped up in his hunter radar. Stepping onto the wooden porch with Sam right behind him, Dean knocked on the wooden windowed door. Only a few seconds passed and the door was pulled open by a young man dressed casually with dark-colored eyes and short black hair. "Will Carlton?" Dean asked in assumption. Hopefully, he was correct but it probably wouldn't had mattered if he was wrong about the name of this young man.

        "Yeah, that's right," Will answered as he opened the door fully, eyeing Dean and Sam. He wasn't certain who they were but based on their attire, which was leather over casual wear, he assumed that either they were professionals that didn't dress very professionally (some professionals were like that sometimes, especially if they were somewhat undercover) or they were up to something that wasn't necessarily good.

        "I'm Agent Ford," Dean lied swiftly, introducing himself under a false name. He gestured towards Sam with his right hand, swinging his arm to the left as he did before dropping his arm to his side. "This is Agent Hamill." He pulled a fake ID out of his left pants pocket and raised it, flipping it up to show it to Will. "We're with the U.S. Wildlife Service," he lied in continuation.

        A look of confusion appeared on Will's face. "I wasn't aware that you both would be arriving." Dean's right eyebrow raised as he fought the urge to make a confused expression himself. "Your comrades, Agent Dobrev and Agent Panettiere, are waiting inside. I was just about to lead them to the lake when you knocked," Will explained. Dean and Sam exchanged a look with each other as Will took a step back, silently indicating that he was allowing them to come inside the house. Walking into the household, Dean glanced around and immediately made a face as he mentally slapped himself for not realizing why the car outside had looked so familiar to him.

        Standing in front of him and Sam were the Grant-Piers half-sisters, Riley Piers and Selena Grant. Riley, attired in a plain short-sleeved gray shirt, classic blue jeans, and knee-length boots, crossed her arms as she smirked at Dean, not only just somewhat pleased to see him there but happy that she and Selena had gotten to the case before the Winchester brothers this time around. Selena, attired in a long-sleeved black shirt, her blue denim vest, purple ombre jeans, and black ankle heels, smiled at the Winchesters, glad to see them both after little over a week. The two females were there for the same reason as Dean and Sam, and it appeared that perhaps they would be working together again.

        Not a word was spoken between the  _agents_  as they were lead to the lake by Will, taking a not-so-short cut through the house. Upon their arrival at the lake, they found a man with graying hair sitting on a bench that rested atop of a dock, seeing him from a distance. The man was Bill Carlton, father of Will and the recently departed Sophie. He was looking out, looking towards the water of the lake. Will came to a stop, the Winchester brothers and the Grant-Piers sisters coming to a stop seconds afterwards with their attention towards Will and towards the lake. "She was about a hundred yards out," Will explained, turning his head to his right so that his eyes were on the lake. He looked back towards the four and his voice cracked as he spoke further, his pain from the loss quite clear. "That's where she got dragged down."

        "And you're sure she didn't just drown?" Dean asked for clarification.

        "Yeah," Will answered. He looked back towards the lake, towards where he had last seen his sister alive. "She was a varsity swimmer. She practically grew up in that lake." He turned his attention back towards the two sets of siblings. "She's as safe out there as in her own bathtub."

        Dean made a face as he looked towards the large body of water. To his left, Riley and Selena glanced at one another, the both of them remaining silent as of the moment while they waited for a chance to speak up. Sam, on the other hand, spoke up immediately after Will had finished talking, speaking gently. "So no splashing, no signs of distress?" Sam asked, wishing to have some sort of clue as to what they were dealing with. Upon Will shaking his head in response, Sam (and the others) silently came to the conclusion that the creature they were dealing with attacked silently and without any warning whatsoever. "Did you see any shadows in the water, maybe some dark shape breach the surface?" Sam pressed onward, searching for more information that could come in handy for future reference of this case.

        Will shook his head again. His arms were now crossed over his chest. "No, again, she was really far out there." He was beginning to appear more distressed as the questions continued further. He didn't know what had occurred. He didn't see anything out of the ordinary. All he knew was that his sister had been out there and then she wasn't out there shortly afterwards. He couldn't explain it. He barely even witnessed his sister's disappearance.

        Dean looked back towards Will, looking away from the lake. "You ever see any strange tracks by the shoreline?" he questioned. Perhaps something was roaming around the lake and it was killing people that stepped within it.

        "Have you seen anything unusual at all around this area, before or after what occurred?" Riley asked Will, speaking up as she glanced towards the lake. She felt uncomfortable, her being the one closest to the lake in their little line up. She didn't have a fear of drowning and she didn't have a fear for water, but because of her having the elemental use of fire, water was a weakness of hers. She wouldn't be able to use her power, even if the situation became dire because fire wouldn't do shit against water. She glanced back towards Will, waiting for his answer.

        "No, never," Will answered both Dean and Riley at the same time. "Why? What do you think's out there?" He shifted on his feet as he stared at everyone. From his tone, he seemed to have become a little frantic. He had become a tad afraid by the questions he was being asked, now wondering if there really was something out there that had caused his sibling to drown.

        "We'll let you know as soon as we do," Dean replied. He began to walk away, prepared to head around the house to return to his vehicle. He appeared to be in some sort of hurry, considering that he didn't bother asking to question Will's father about what had occurred. His mind appeared to be on other things or rather on another person. He seemed to be a bit too eager to get away from the Grant-Piers siblings, despite having kind of enjoyed their company on the previous case. He just didn't want to trust them, he didn't want to bond with them, and he certainly didn't want to work with them a second time because all he really cared about, hopefully, was hunting monsters and eventually finding his father with Sam by his side.

        "What about your father?" Sam asked, remaining where he stood. Behind him, Dean stopped in his tracks and he turned back towards where Riley, Sam, Selena, and Will stood, shifting a bit as he waited. "Can we talk to him?" Sam continued. He was curious to know if Bill had witnessed anything at all.

        Will looked over his shoulder towards where his father was sitting. He released a sigh as he looked back towards just Sam. "Look, if you don't mind... I mean, he didn't see anything and he's kind of been through a lot." He didn't want them bothering his father, his father going through a rougher phase of mourning than he himself was.

        Selena finally spoke up, having remained quiet the entire time of the conversation, and her tone was very gentle. "We understand." She smiled sympathetically at Will as Will's gaze turned towards her. "I apologize if these questions have caused you any discomfort. We merely wished to gather as much information as we could to learn the cause of this situation." She held her right hand out and Will, hesitatingly, uncrossed his arms, grasping her right hand in his own. Together, they gently shook hands with one another. "Thank you very much for your time and do make sure to give us a call if you are to see anything unusual at all or if something else occurs in the area," Selena finished. Will nodded in agreement and he smiled slightly at her as they released each other's hand. Behind Selena, Riley reached by her left shoulder to hand Will a card that held both of their contact information and Will took it gently, the tiny blush in his cheeks going unnoticed by everyone  _except_  Riley.

        As Will headed back into his home and the two groups of siblings headed back to their vehicles, Riley released a squeal that broke the silence between them. She moved to where she was standing in front of all of them, mainly in front of Selena. She had a large smile on her face and she placed her hands on Selena's shoulders. "Please tell me you noticed that he was blushing." Selena titled her head, confused as Riley squealed again. "He likes you, Selena! He was blushing the moment you both started shaking hands! This is great! No one has ever showed interest in you like that before, not ever!" She paused herself and shrugged her head to the left quickly. "'Least not from the right people." Her hands dropped from Selena's shoulders. Selena continued staring at Riley, confused still while Dean and Sam stared at Riley, Dean making faces at how Riley was acting and Sam looking amused. "You can finally get laid!" Riley exclaimed, clarifying what she was trying to say to Selena.

        "Must that always be on your mind?" Selena questioned, letting out a sigh as she looked away from Riley. "I have no such interest in those sorts of mannerisms. These activities may be something much more suited for yourself," she gestured to her right where Dean and Sam were, "and perhaps for these two gentlemen additionally, but not for myself." She looked back towards Riley. "Besides, it would be rather rude to fornicate during a case when lives are at stake." Riley groaned and pouted, instantly giving up on her attempt to get Selena in bed with someone. Selena turned her head towards the brothers whom were shifting awkwardly on their feet now. "I apologize for not only involving you in the short conversation, but for you having to listen in on it." Something very private, that should had been between herself and Riley only, had been made known to the Winchester brothers that they barely knew. If she were anyone else, she would've been embarrassed but she wasn't, just displeased by the information that was recklessly implied. Although, she was at fault for this, too, since she continued with the topic for a single moment.

        Dean waved it off, literally, as he began walking again. "Eh, always a pleasure to hear the antics of Thelma and Louise." He didn't really care about what he had just listened in on. He'll forget about it later, probably. He could suffer through feeling awkward for a few minutes. Wouldn't be the first time this had happened.

        Riley scoffed as she, Sam, and Selena followed behind Dean. "Thelma and Louise? Like I haven't heard that one before." In the past, people have referred to herself and Selena as that. And as a result of the first few times that had happened, she had to explain the reference to Selena since Selena hadn't seen very many movies. "So," Riley spoke up once they all had reached where their vehicles were parked. Dean groaned as he stopped walking and he turned to face her, Sam stopping beside him as he, too, looked towards Riley. Selena came to a stop behind Riley, rubbing her covered left arm randomly. "Ren and Stimpy, are the four of us working together on this or not?" Riley asked. "Because I don't see the point in working separately on the same damn case."

        Dean gave her a look, his left eyebrow raising. "I vaguely remember that you weren't very willing to work together last time." He was surprised that she suddenly was much more willing to work with him and Sam, not that he cared. A very small part of him wanted to work with the sisters again, but that urge was being overcome by his determination to stay away from them.

        Riley glared at him. "Yeah, well, I vaguely recall that you weren't so willing to work together, too, jerk-wad. And it appears that the truce we had made is completely void now so fuck you, asshole." Her mood entirely opposite than how it began, she shifted on her feet slightly as she looked away from the brothers. "So, what's it gonna be? A no or a yes? We're wasting time here." She was beginning to slightly regret asking. She should had let Selena do that herself or let Sam suggest it again. Or they could've just said nothing and left. One of those three options would've been better than what just happened. That way, this conversation wouldn't had been drawn out as far as it had gone. Plus, she was feeling slightly embarrassed for asking because of how Dean responded. She had thought they were on slightly better terms after the little moment they shared before parting ways but clearly, she had been absolutely fucking wrong.

        Dean opened his mouth to downright refuse, but Sam spoke up before him. "Sure." Dean turned to give Sam a look but Sam ignored him. Sam smiled kindly at Riley and Selena. "We'd appreciate the help." He'd do anything to make this go by faster. Plus, he kind of wanted to see how their interactions would differ this time around; he expected Dean and Riley to remain cold towards each other despite their obvious interest in one another, but he was more interested in how Selena would handle things this time and what she'd speak of if the two of them were to hold a conversation.

        Clearly very annoyed with Sam, Dean turned away from the sisters and approached his vehicle further, angrily getting into it and practically slamming the door shut behind him without saying another word. Sam, apologizing for Dean's behavior really quickly, turned from the sisters himself and he, too, was soon within the Impala. Sam watched from inside the Impala as Riley and Selena headed over to their own vehicle. Dean was silent for a moment as he cranked up the Impala and he soon began pulling out of the rocky driveway. "...Why did you have to go and do that, Sammy?" Dean asked after they were well on the road, Riley's car following behind them. "We're capable of doing this ourselves. We don't need their help. We never needed any help."

        Sam looked over at Dean. "Look, Dean, the faster we do this, the faster we can get back on the right track of finding Dad. They helped us plenty last time and they can help us now. If it weren't for them, we wouldn't be alive right now," he told Dean. Dean shook his head slightly as he stared at the road, his hands clenched tightly on the steering wheel. Sam sighed and he looked away from him. "And it's Sam," he added, disliking being called by the nickname.

        The remainder of the ride was completely silent, neither brother speaking and neither moving to turn on some music. Dean eventually pulled up to a police station, parking his vehicle as the sisters soon pulled into the station as well. Upon entering the station together and speaking to the sheriff, the sheriff didn't disagree to speak with the four of them, but he surely did appear to be quite confused with why they were there. "Now, I'm sorry," Sheriff Jake Devins began as he led the four into his office, the middle-aged man carrying a file in his hand. "But why does the Wildlife Service care about an accidental drowning?" he asked.

        "Are you sure it was accidental?" Sam questioned as he, Dean, Riley, and Selena followed behind the sheriff, in a not-so-orderly fashion, within the slightly overcrowded room. "Will Carlton saw something grab his sister," he continued.

        "Like what?" Sheriff Devins questioned as he looked back to stare at Sam. Behind Sam, Dean was glancing around, Riley was staring at Dean with an eyebrow raised as she wondered if he did that often, and Selena had her hands crossed in front of her as she walked with her eyes on the sheriff. "Here, sit, please," Sheriff Devins continued as he gestured to the two chairs that sat in front of his desk. As the sheriff walked forward further to get around his desk with his attention away from the four, Dean sat down quickly in the left chair and he smirked at Riley when he looked towards her, causing her to grimace at him as she moved to stand behind his chair. Sam took a step towards the chair to Dean's right but he moved to stand behind it instead, gesturing to Selena that she could sit within the chair. Selena smiled politely at Sam as she sat down in the un-taken seat. Sheriff Devins looked back towards them and continued speaking as he sat down in his own chair, putting the file in his hand down on the desk. "There are no indigenous carnivores in that lake. There's nothing even big enough to pull down a person, unless it was the Loch Ness Monster."

        "Yeah," Dean responded. He scoffed seconds afterward. "Right." He immediately looked towards his right, expecting to see Sam sitting beside him and he was hoping to share the same look with Sam about the suggestion the sheriff had unknowingly made, but upon spotting Selena sitting down beside him instead with her attention on the sheriff, Dean glanced further back until his eyes met Sam's, Sam remaining behind Selena. Dean raised his eyebrow, looking at him questionably as he quickly glanced towards Selena and back at Sam. He felt like he was missing something obvious. Sam sent an annoyed expression Dean's way before both of their attentions returned towards the sheriff.

        "Will Carlton was traumatized and sometimes the mind plays tricks," Sheriff Devins said. "Still, we dragged that entire lake. We even ran a sonar sweep just to be sure, and there was nothing down there."

        Dean shook his head slightly as he spoke, leaning forward in his seat. "That's weird, though. I mean, that's, that's the third missing body this year." Mainly, he was playing the part of a confused professional but even then, he actually did find it to be a bit weird that absolutely nothing was found in the lake. Maybe the Loch Ness Monster was able to cloak itself so that it couldn't be found. Man, hunting the Loch Ness Monster would be something. He could only imagine what other hunters would think if he could manage to kill the Loch Ness Monster, if the creature even existed. He hoped that was what they were hunting.

        "I know," Sheriff Devins responded. He leaned forward in his chair. "These are people from my town. These are people I care about." Dean nodded. "Anyway," Sheriff Devins sighed as he leaned back into his chair while gesturing, "All this, it won't be a problem much longer." He placed his hands on his legs.

        "What do you mean?" Dean asked, staring at the sheriff still. He should've done more research into the matter because what he just did was entirely something a true professional  _wouldn't_  do. He was suppose to pretend that he knew what he was doing, fake profession wise, and that he knew what was going on. Asking that question, he did the complete opposite and he was completely unaware of this mistake. For a few seconds.

        Sheriff Devins stared at him with suspicion. "Well, the dam, of course."

        "Right," Riley spoke up. "The dam. Of course." She placed her hands on Dean's shoulders and while it caused Dean to be a bit agitated, Dean additionally kind of liked that her hands were on him. "Excuse my partner. He's been having a rather rough day. Had a horrible fight with his girlfriend," Riley lied swiftly. "She hates it when he's on the job, you know?" Sheriff Davins nodded understandingly at Riley as Dean's eyebrow raised again before the expression on his face became one of approval for the lie. Riley half-smiled at the sheriff. "Basically, the dam has sprung a leak. One that no one is bothering to fix," Riley said. She was making an assumption and praying silently that she was correct in some way or they were so busted.

        Jake half nodded. He leaned forward again as he explained. "It's falling apart and the feds won't give us the grant to repair it so they've opened the spillway. In another six months, there won't be much of a lake. There won't be much of a town either. But as Federal Wildlife, you already knew that." No, they didn't but they sure as hell knew now.

        A tap on the door caught everyone's attention and they all turned to see a young woman with long dark-colored hair walking in. Attire in a white almost-sleeveless shirt, pale pink skirt, and heels, Andrea Barr smiled apologetically as she fully entered the room, Sam having to take a sidestep in order for Andrea to do so because the office was rather small. "Sorry, am I interrupting? I can come back later." Dean and Selena both removed themselves from the chairs they were sitting in as the two of them, Riley, and Sam kept their attention of Andrea. Dean was staring at Andrea like he just got himself a nice home-cooked meal, happy with the new distraction.

        Sheriff Davins removed himself from his own seat. "Gentlemen, Ladies, this is my daughter." He smiled as he placed his hands on his hips.

        Immediately, Dean stepped towards Andrea with a smile on his face. "It's a pleasure to meet you," he greeted as he held his right hand out. Andrea grasped it into her own. "I'm Dean," he introduced, still smiling. Behind him, Riley was biting her tongue and crossing her arms angrily as she became jealous; when was he ever going to give her this kind of attention? To Dean's left, Sam stood quietly beside the chair Selena had been sitting in as he watched Andrea and Dean, Selena standing close to him and towards his right.

        "Andrea Barr. Hi," Andrea introduced and greeted, still smiling. She didn't bother asking him for a last name. She didn't even bother asking for an introduction from Riley, Sam, and Selena, though the three of them didn't seem to be planning on introducing themselves any time soon so it didn't even matter if Andrea wanted to know their names or not. She'd probably eventually learn their names anyways. But her main reason for not asking was because her mind was amongst other things, more important things.

        Sheriff Devins began to maneuver around his desk from the right as he explained things to Andrea. If he had tried going around the left side of his desk, he'd be stuck behind Sam and Selena since they'd be blocking his way to his daughter. But then again, now it was Dean and Riley who were blocking his way to his daughter. "They're from the Wildlife Service. About the lake." Andrea nodded her head slightly as she made an  _oh_  expression. A young boy with brown hair to his shoulders and with his bangs brushed over the left side of his forehead walked up behind Andrea, lightly brushing up against her left arm as he moved to stand beside her.

        Dean stared down at the young boy with a soft smile. "Oh, hey there. What's your name?" Around the room, the Grant-Piers sisters and Sam were eyeing the kid, too, but their reactions varied from each other. Riley was making a face as she quickly came to the conclusion that this kid had to be Andrea's son; not that she didn't like kids but the fact that Dean was flirting with a woman who had a child was making her a tad uncomfortable. Sam was just staring at the kid with not much of an expression on his face, almost as if he didn't fully care about the kid's presence in the room. Lastly, Selena was grinning a little as she stared at the kid.

        The young boy didn't say a single word as he turned around and left the room that he had only just entered. Andrea looked away from her son and she smiled apologetically again at everyone before she turned away and followed after her son. Dean, Riley, Sam, and Selena all had a confused frown on their face. "His name is Lucas," Sheriff Devins answered.

        "Is he okay?" Sam asked. Dean, Riley, Selena, and himself were staring at the door, looking into the next room. Andrea and Lucas were in their line of sight, Andrea handing Lucas a black crayon along with some paper before pulling a few more crayons out of the box in her hand. The two sets of siblings turned their attention towards the sheriff whom was standing behind Dean and somewhat beside Riley.

        "My grandson's been through a lot," Sheriff Devins answered. "We all have." Dean, Riley, Sam, and Selena looked away from him, their attention back on Andrea and Lucas. Sheriff Devins scooted past Riley and then Dean, placing himself by the door as he spoke. "Well, if there's anything else I can do for you, please let me know," he told them as he looked at the four of them.

        "Thanks," Dean breathed out as he began walking out of the office. Riley followed behind him, followed by Sam and Selena. Dean eyed Andrea, her back being turned towards him as she watched her son draw. "You know," Dean began after a few seconds, coming to a stop behind Andrea as he turned to look at the sheriff. Riley, Sam, and Selena walked around him, all three of them coming to a stop at certain areas; Riley walked past Dean and turned around so that she was standing behind him, Sam was standing to Dean's right, and Selena was standing in front of Sam but her body was facing towards where Andrea and Lucas were, not towards where the sheriff stood or where the brothers and her sister stood. "Now that you mentioned it, could you point us in the direction of a reasonably priced motel?" Dean asked. Although he was looking at the sheriff and speaking to him, he was actually speaking to Andrea but not openly doing so. Well, he wasn't openly doing so until his attention turned towards Andrea.

        "Lakefront Motel," Andrea answered after a moment of thinking. "Go around the corner, it's two blocks up," she instructed kindly.

        Sam made a move to start walking again but he quickly realized that Dean wasn't planning on leaving the station just yet and he paused himself, a knowing expression appearing on his face. "Two..." Dean paused his speaking for a second. "Would you mind showing us?" He just wanted an excuse to be around her for a little while longer. Anything to keep his mind off of his attraction towards Riley whom he had only seen for a total of three times now; he didn't want to like her, he didn't want to find her incredibly sexy, and he didn't want to be around her but he did like her, he did find her incredibly sexy, and he just couldn't seem to stay away from her because she just kept on showing up wherever they went. He hardly knew the woman, other than what Selena had told him during the last case, and yet Riley still had creeped her way into his mind after he just took one damn look at her within a freaking diner. Dean was really hoping that his flirting with Andrea would keep his mind occupied.

        Andrea let out a chuckle as she stared at Dean. "You want me to walk you two blocks?" At the corner of her eye, she could see Riley fuming behind Dean. Andrea continued to smile at Dean as she secretly watched Riley from the corner of her eye still, silently wondering if the two of them (Dean and Riley) were dating or something.

        "Not if it's any trouble," Dean told her. Behind him, Riley is rolling her eyes as she continues fuming. Beside him, Sam is rolling his eyes. Beside Sam, Selena doesn't seem concerned with what was occurring because it wasn't any of her business on when Dean flirted and who Dean was flirting with.

        "I'm heading that way anyway," Andrea answered. Riley scoffed at how convenient that was and she rolled her eyes again. Andrea turned towards her father. "I'll be back to pick up Lucas at three," she informed him. She turned in a full circle, crouching down behind her son. She was unaware of her father looking down at her and Lucas lovingly. "We'll go to the park, okay, sweetie?" She kissed Lucas on the head before she straightened back up, almost releasing a sigh as Lucas continued drawing without acknowledging that he heard her. She walked past Dean and began to head out. Dean waved at the sheriff as he immediately started following Andrea. Sam gave a small nod to the sheriff before he followed behind Dean. Riley didn't follow anyone, instead heading out of the station ahead of everyone.

        Selena looked towards the sheriff and nodded shortly. "Thank you for your time," she said to him, catching him off guard because he hadn't heard her speak the entire time she was there. She smiled at him. "Please enjoy the rest of your day." Sheriff Devins smiled back at her after a few seconds and he watched her leave the station, a little ways behind everyone else. As Selena stepped out of the station, she noticed that everyone was waiting for her, considering that they were all looking towards the door that she just exited. She hadn't taken that long so she didn't really see the point in them waiting for her. "I could had easily caught up with you," she stated, tilting her head as she stared at them.

        Sam shook his head as he stared at her. "It would've been rude not to wait." Selena began to smile at the nice gesture of everyone waiting for her and her smile brought on the smiles of everyone else. She just had that kind of positive effect on people and most never seemed to realize it until much later, if they stuck around her long enough.

        Andrea began to lead the way to the motel, everyone following behind her two at a time; Dean and Riley were right behind Andrea while Sam and Selena were right behind their sibling. As the four followed close behind one another, Dean began to attempt some small talk with Andrea. "So, cute kid," he commented. Riley rolled her eyes beside him as Andrea replied to Dean with a quick  _thanks_. "Kids are the best, huh?" Dean continued as the five of them crossed the road. Andrea looked back towards Dean and gave him some sort of look before she looked back towards where she was walking, Riley bit her lip to keep from laughing her ass off at Dean's lame attempt at flirting, Sam was smiling at said lame attempt, and Selena was looking at the back of Dean's head with a questioning expression.

        Andrea slowed to a stop as they reached the motel she spoke of. "There it is." She turned to face Dean as everyone came to a stop. "Like I said, two blocks." She released a sigh as the thanks from Sam went unheard by her. She continued staring at Dean. "Must be hard with your sense of direction, never being able to find your way to a decent pickup line." The smile of Dean's face vanished as Riley began to laugh out loud beside him and Sam began to smile more, holding in a laugh of his own. Selena slightly shook her head at the situation, not amused like everyone else. Andrea began walking back the way they had came, calling back to them as she went. "Enjoy your stay!"

        Riley called back to Andrea, cuffing her hands in front of her mouth to make her voice appear louder. She was struggling to hold back more laughs. "T-Thank you so much for saying that!" She immediately dropped her hands to her sides as she hunched over, laughing some more. "Oh, man. She told you, Winchester. Oh, she fucking told you. Damn!" She straightened back up and glanced towards Dean to find him glaring at her. She smirked at him as she laughed some more, her laughs being a little less loud. She pointed in the direction that Andrea went. "That automatically made her my new best-friend. Because that was just fantastic and the look on your face was fucking priceless, man." Oh, she was in a so much better mood now after that. Dean had failed at flirting right before her very eyes. She was still kind of jealous that he had been flirting with another woman because he never flirts with herself but seeing Andrea reject him was grand. She hated feeling like a jealous girlfriend when she wasn't even close to being such, but she was almost completely sure that her little crush or whatever it was would go away eventually.

        "Shut up," Dean told her, sounding immature. He looked away from Riley and towards Sam. Upon seeing the amused smile on Sam's face, Dean made a face. "Really, Sammy? You too?"

        " _Kids are the best_? You don't even like kids," Sam stated matter of factly. He completely ignored the fact that he was called by the nickname he disliked greatly right now. He was far too amused by what just happened.

        "I love kids!" Dean retorted defensively as he angrily stuffed his hands in the pockets of his jacket.

        Sam stared at Dean. "Name three children that you even know," he challenged. Riley, Sam, and Selena watched as Dean pulled out one of his hands from his pocket and lifted it as if he was about to start counting with his fingers. However, when he opened his mouth slightly, no words escaped out because no children came to mind. As a vacant expression appeared on Dean's face as he attempted to think of someone that was a kid, Selena shook her head slightly again and she began to head into the motel. Sam waved his hand at Dean as he began heading after Selena, already knowing that Dean would come up with nothing. Riley stayed where she was, snickering as she watched Dean.

        Dean pulled himself out of his thoughts and realized that only Riley was still standing by him. He raised his lifted hand to his head, scratching it as he appeared slightly troubled. "I'm thinking," he said loudly but it was likely that only Riley heard him since Sam and Selena had gone inside. Riley scoffed as she walked towards the entrance of the motel and Dean glared at the back of her head as he followed behind her. That had been a bit embarrassing.

        In a matter of five minutes, the four hunters found themselves within a motel room together. How this had occurred was rather simple, really. Firstly, Sam and Selena had paused their walking to wait for Dean and Riley to enter the motel. Secondly, once the two had entered the motel, Riley had made sure that she was the one to speak with the desk clerk and she, without fault, managed to make it where the four of them were rooming together in a two bed motel room. While Sam and Selena were unbothered with rooming together, Dean was dismayed. Currently, Sam and Selena were sitting together, side by side, at a small table within the motel room, looking through various articles together on Sam's laptop. Behind them, Dean was being not so productive, throwing around dirty laundry as he waited for information. Sitting on one of the two beds was Riley and she wasn't doing anything productive either as she moved to where she was laying down on the bed.

        Dean was quick to notice this and he immediately tossed a dirty shirt at her, hitting her in the face. "Hey!" Dean exclaimed as Riley removed the dirty shirt from her face in disgust. "Don't get comfy because that's  _my_  bed you're laying on." While Sam had agreed to either share a bed with Selena or just simply sleep on the floor and allow Selena to take the bed, Dean had automatically claimed a bed and refused to share whatsoever.

        Riley scoffed and tossed the filthy shirt to the floor. "Whatever. It's not like you're using it right now." She had a good point. Dean wasn't using the bed right that moment. But regardless of that, Dean threw dirty boxers at her this time and the boxers landed on her face as well. Riley immediately pulled them off her head and jumped off the bed while tossing the boxers to the floor, causing Dean to laugh hysterically. She glared at him immediately. "You are such a pig, you know that?" She made a face like she was going to vomit. "God, it smelt of cum and sweat," she stated, making a face of discomfort as she assumed that the boxers belonged to Dean. She headed towards the bathroom. "I'm just gonna go wash my face and try to get this horrible image outta my head." She closed the door to the restroom behind her as she entered, a frown crossing her face once she was behind closed doors.

        Sam cleared his throat as he began to speak up, his eyes on his laptop. "So, there's the three drowning victims this year." On the screen, an article titled  **DROWNING TAINTS ICE FISHING FESTIVAL**  is shown. He clicks on another browser window that he had minimized, it appearing on the screen with the main title being  **12-YEAR-OLD GIRL DROWNS IN LAKE**  and the secondary title being  **Second drowning in 6 months at Lake Manitoc**. Silently observing beside Sam, Selena is frowning at the articles as they pop up on screen. "Six more spread out over the past thirty-five years. Those bodies were never recovered either. If there is something out there, it's picking up its pace."

        Dean tossed another item of clothing after sniffing it, this time it landed on the bed instead of on someone. "So, what, we got a lake monster on a binge?"

        "Not necessarily," Selena spoke up as she placed her hands off the table and onto her lap. She turned slightly in her chair so that she could look at Dean while she spoke with him. "Although the Loch Ness Monster could exist, I doubt it is what we are dealing with here in Lake Manitoc. While there are hundreds of eyewitnesses for Loch Ness encounters, there is entirely nothing here. No one living has spoken of any of these encounters because each have died from the events that occurred." She continued to frown as she shook her head, looking down at her hands. "We may not be looking for any sort of large lake monster per se but perhaps maybe a water imp or some sort of rogue siren. Both creatures dwell around water."

        Dean stared at Selena, nodding as he acknowledged what she said and he approached her as she turned back in her seat. Dean leaned over her and Sam as he looked at the article. Sam had scrolled down to the comments section of one of the articles, however, so Dean didn't get a chance to read some of what Sam and Selena had read. But that didn't matter because he immediately spotted something that maybe the two hadn't just caught themselves and he pointed at the screen. "Wait, Barr. Christopher Barr. Where have I heard that name before?" The sound of a door opening made Dean look away from the screen and he smirked as Riley exited the bathroom. "Took you long enough. Was beginning to think you fell into the sink."

        Riley mostly ignored him as she began walking towards the door. "I'm heading outside. Come get me when you find something useful and when you get your head removed out of your ass." She closed the door behind her, leaving everyone to be slightly confused as to what just occurred while also leaving Dean a little pissed off. Just seconds after Riley had exited the room, Selena stood up from the chair she sat in and she immediately headed after Riley, closing the door behind her in a more gentle manner than Riley had.

        Before Sam could begin reading what Dean had spotted a moment ago on the screen, Dean let out a groan as he moved away from Sam, pacing around the room. Sam stared at him questionably and was about to ask him what was wrong when Dean started speaking. "She's so infuriating," he said loudly. He kicked the side of a bed. "I hate her." He was referring to Riley. He hated this, all of it. He hated that she was making him feel two different emotions towards her constantly. He wanted to strangle her, but he also wanted to have sex with her. It was really frustrating.

        Sam gave him an  _oh, really?_  look as he watched Dean continue pacing around the room. "Yeah," Sam said, dragging out the word. "No, you don't," he continued, smirking a bit at Dean. Dean paused his pacing to look at Sam in dismay. "You like her," Sam added, leaning back against his chair as he continued staring at Dean with a smirk. "Like, you  _really_  like her."

        "What?" Dean questioned in disbelief. He immediately began to deny it, though he knew it was true. "I do not!" He threw his arms out as he stared at Sam. "Are we even talking about the same person here? Because," he pointed towards the door, "that woman out there has nothing remotely likable about herself."

        Sam slid his tongue over his teeth as he shook his head at his brother's denial. "Okay," he said. "What is it that you hate about her, then?" He wanted to see where this went. He wanted to see if Dean could list more than five things that he hated about Riley. Sam already knew that Riley had her moments where she wasn't exactly nice, but she hadn't ever really spoken to him (Sam) much at all so he wasn't sure if being a bitch was something natural about her or not. That moment between her and Selena earlier that day had been a tad bit amusing because Riley was acting very excited, which he hadn't seen from her before so maybe the bitch front really was an act or was mostly an act like Selena had implied to him in the previous case. He didn't believe Dean could list many dislikes and he soon found himself to be correct.

        Dean stood where he was for a moment as he began explaining. "Well, she's... She's infuriating!" he exclaimed as he repeated what he said earlier, commencing to pace around the room again. His tone dialed down a bit. "She has no sense of humor." He shook his head, correcting him. "She has  _some_  sense of humor. She's extremely annoying." He was repeating himself again, annoying being another word for infuriating. He threw his hands up to his head. "She's inside of my freaking head and she won't go away! Not even after I flirted with Andrea!" he exclaimed, his tone raising up again slightly. He hadn't meant to reveal that to Sam, his frustration getting the better of him. He turned towards Sam and noticed the surprised expression on his face. "What?" Dean asked, not fully realizing what he had stated.

        Sam continued to look surprised. "Dude, I thought you just liked her, like a crush or something, but the way you're describing this, it sounds like you're very strongly infatuated with her." Never in his life did he think he'd see the day where Dean would have a girl stuck on his mind. Never in his life did he think that he'd see the day where Dean wasn't thinking about having an one-night stand with a girl he found an interest in. This was new to him about as much as it was new to Dean, considering it wasn't often when Dean would find a woman that he unknowingly and knowingly wanted to have something more than an one-night stand with.

        Dean scoffed. "What? Am not." He was being immature about this. He was continuing with his denial of what he knew was true but he wanted to ignore it and maybe, just maybe, it'll go away and he'd have nothing to worry about anymore.

        Sam rolled his eyes as he looked back towards his laptop. "Yeah, okay. Whatever. Deny it all you want." Hearing Dean mumble something about ending the chick flick moment, Sam read through the comment that Dean had spotted earlier as Dean re-approached him from behind again. Maybe Dean had found a link to some much needed information.

        While the Winchester brothers began to read an article about Christopher Barr (whom they immediately learnt was the deceased father of Lucas Barr), the Grant-Piers sisters gathered outside of the motel itself. Riley was fuming and pacing, her arms crossed over her chest. Selena was eyeing her silently, standing nearby with her hands slightly in her jeans pockets. "God, that Dean Winchester. Who does he think he is?! Ugh, he's so frustrating! I hate him!" Riley was having the same mental meltdown that Dean had endured inside the motel room. She wanted nothing more than to strangle Dean but she additionally wanted to kiss him and wanted to be pinned underneath him on a bed somewhere. Her feelings were so mixed up that it was beginning to annoy the shit out of her.

        Selena tilted her head as she watched Riley continue to pace back and forth. "You hate him?" she questioned, confused by this sudden change. "But just the other week, you had been going on and on about his great qualities. Additionally, just last week, you talked about how sweet it was for him to," she began using air quotes momentarily, " _play nice_  with you. I had assumed that your negative behavior was due to you not wishing to bond with him and Sam, and I began to believe that maybe you were simply playing hard to get like I have heard that most girls do, but I suppose I was incorrect." She could had sworn that Riley had stated in the past few weeks that she liked Dean. Maybe she had misheard her.

        Riley stopped pacing and she looked at Selena. "That's right! You were wrong! I hate his guts!" She stomped her foot like an immature teenager. "He's annoying, he flirts with absolutely everyone with a vagina except for me, he smirks all the damn time, he never has anything nice to say to me, and his eyes are so wonderful, and so green!" She threw her hands up in frustration. "I want this stupid crush to go away already because this is just torture! I'm gonna go insane if this mess doesn't just stop now!"

        Selena was even more confused now. Riley had gone from saying she hated Dean to saying she had a crush on him that she wanted released. Her emotions certainly were all over the place, weren't they? Selena lifted her right arm and rubbed the back of her head, uncertain of what to say for once. It took her a moment to finally come up with something that could be helpful to Riley. "You certainly won't go insane from just a minor fixation. It'll pass as time moves forward." She frowned as she continued staring at Riley, dropping her hand from her head. "I do not see why being infatuated with someone is so displeasing to you so suddenly. You have had long lasting relationships in the past. Why are you dreading the possible occurrences of them now?"

        Riley gave her a look. "Seriously, Selena? You want to know why I'm showing dislike for this?" She gestured to herself. "Because I'm a hunter." She pointed towards the motel furiously. "Because Dean's a hunter." She dropped her hand. "Do you honestly believe a relationship will last with this kind of life? Because it won't. It'll end with one or both of us dying and I don't want to be around when it does." She closed her eyes and reopened them as she rephrased her choice of words. "I don't want to be around when Dean gets himself killed or even when Sam gets himself killed. I don't want to witness that. That's why I don't like bonding with others and I had thought that you knew this already." She scoffed as she made another gesture. "Yet, you and Sam were so set on us working together with hunting that Wendigo, and I was forced to endure the fact that my emotions towards Dean increased despite, well, everything that had happened. In fact, working with them made me so confused about what I want that I ended up wanting to work with them on this case and look where that's gotten us. Absolutely nowhere. Dean is back to being a dick and obviously, I'm retaliating because of it. But even then, I still feel attraction towards him and I hate it because I am absolutely terrified that it'll become more, and I'm terrified that I will end up dead because of him. I am terrified of the thought of falling in love with someone again and the thought of just losing them in an instant. I don't want to go through that bullshit again. I can't." Her eyes were watery as she stared intensely at Selena. "And that's why I want these feelings to go away. I can't handle them very well."

        Selena stared at Riley, processing what she had just been told and she smiled sadly, her own eyes becoming watery as she nodded slightly. "It is natural for one to be terrified of things that could commence because of something that has occurred in the past," she whispered. She began to speak in a normal tone but her voice tended to crack every other sentence. "Riley, despite these fears of yours, it would be better for you to spend time with someone while you can than spend time away from them and regret what could have been. We are amongst the makings of something beautiful, a friendship that could be everlasting. You must let go of your fear because death is inevitable and you cannot just allow this fear to keep you from having some happiness within your life while you still have one." She sniffled as a few tears dripped down her cheeks. She quickly brushed them away. "Instead of listening to your head, try listening to your heart for once, Riley. You're more likely to find the answers you are looking for that way."

        Riley rolled her eyes as she turned away from Selena. "Yeah, I highly doubt that." She took a few steps forward before stopping, releasing a sigh. "But whatever. I'll try to let it go." She didn't want this fear weighing her down for the rest of her life. She did want to be happy and she did, to some extent, want to see where this friendship with the Winchesters went. She wanted a relationship to occur between herself and Dean. But she was preventing all of this from happening because of her fear, a fear that she needed to let go of because Selena was right, death was inevitable...

**~(Approximately) November 20th, 2005 **; Lake Manitoc, Wisconsin** ~**

        The Winchester brothers and the Grant-Piers sisters found themselves within a park, having drove there together within Dean's Impala upon Selena's insistence. What had happened was that shortly after Riley and Selena finished speaking with each other, Dean and Sam had walked out of the motel, explaining to the females that Lucas had witnessed the drowning of his father. Upon realizing that they'd have to go to the park where Andrea and Lucas would likely be located, Selena had insisted on them driving together in one vehicle since they were all going to the same location. Reluctantly, Dean had agreed and surprisingly, no arguments between Dean and Riley were had. And now here they were, standing in a park full of laughing children and conversing mothers. After the four of them approached Andrea (she was sitting on a bench) from behind and had spoken to her for just a few seconds, Dean and Selena both began to make their way towards Lucas, whom was sitting at a small table alone with his papers and crayons. As the two of them slowly walked closer to where Lucas was located, Andrea spoke to Riley and Sam as they both sat down on either side of her. "Tell your friend this whole  _Jerry Maguire_  thing is not gonna work on me."

        "I don't think that's what this is about," Sam told Andrea. Andrea smiled a little, mostly in a sad way, as she looked towards where Lucas was, watching as Dean and Selena grew closer to his location. Riley released a small laugh beside Andrea, causing both Andrea and Sam to look in her direction. "Find something amusing, Riley?" Sam questioned.

        Riley shrugged slightly as she eyed Dean and Selena from afar. "Not exactly." She turned to look at Andrea and Sam. She smiled a little. "I'm just wondering if Dean will end up bonding with Selena somehow. No one can escape the vibe that constantly surrounds her. I'm just wondering if he can, somehow." She turned her attention back towards where Dean and Selena were located, Andrea and Sam doing the same seconds later.

        Far across from where Andrea, Sam, and Riley were located, Dean and Selena approached Lucas. "How's it going?" Dean greeted softly as he and Selena knelt down next to the bench where Lucas was coloring. Lucas didn't look up from his drawing and Selena tilted her head as she looked down at each of the finished drawings that laid on the table, one being a big black swirl while the other was a red bicycle. Dean released a chuckle as he looked at the little green toy soldiers that stood on the table. "Oh, I used to love these things," Dean commented as he picked one up. He mimicked the sound of gunfire and explosions without a second thought before tossing the toy soldier down onto the bench, a smile crossing his face and a larger one appeared when he heard Selena releasing a giggle. He didn't know why, but he really liked the sound of her giggle and felt unusually happy that he had caused such a sound to escape her. Picking up another toy soldier, he imitated gunfire again only this time, he was facing Selena as he did it.

        Selena let out another giggle. "Stop it, Dean. You need to focus." She gently took the toy soldier from Dean's hand and she stared at it as she placed her elbows on the table, smiling a little as she examined it curiously. In a way, she was a child at heart but a mature adult mentally. That was likely why Dean had involuntarily smiled more when he had heard her giggle; she had seemed almost childlike in that moment. She was too busy looking at the toy in her hand to notice that Dean was watching her with a smile for a moment, just for a moment before he realized his actions and stopped.

        Dean looked back towards Lucas, noticing that Lucas still hadn't looked up from his drawing. "So, crayons is more your thing? That's cool. Chicks dig artists." He looked at the two drawings Lucas had already made, nodding ever so slightly. "These are pretty good. You mind if I sit and draw with you for awhile? I'm not so bad myself." He picked up a crayon and straightened up, moving around the bench to be beside Lucas. He picked up one of the unused pieces of papers and before he began to attempt drawing, he noticed that Selena was staring down at the pile of paper with her head tilted. "Do you want to draw, too, Selena? There's plenty of paper."

        Selena had the brightest of smiles on her face as she looked up at Dean. "Yes, please." She reached out towards the paper and Dean handed her one of them with a slight chuckle. Spotting an unopened box of color pencils, she picked it up and placed it beside her paper, opening it and pulling out multiple colors before she began drawing with a black one first. Drawing was something she always enjoyed doing and it was the only thing she could ever really do for fun during her time with her Immortal family. It was always either training to use her powers or reading up on information about the world outside her home. She didn't have toys to play with or anything really, her childhood not having been average. By the time she joined her father's family, she had chosen to do more productive things rather than doing things normal teens would had done, missing out on many opportunities.

        Dean let out another small chuckle before he moved the unused papers aside, sitting on the table. He, then, picked up what remained of the paper and used it as leverage so that he could draw. He began speaking with Lucas as he began drawing, glancing every so often to see if Lucas was listening and to see if Selena was acknowledging anything at all. "You know, I'm thinking you can hear me. You just don't want to talk. I don't know exactly what happened to your dad, but I know it was something real bad. I think I know how you feel. When I was your age, I saw something." He paused, staring off into space as he felt himself becoming emotional. Pushing it aside, he went back to drawing and continued speaking. "Anyway, well, maybe you don't think anyone will listen to you, or, uh, or believe you. I want you to know that I will. And that Selena will believe you, too. You don't even have to say anything. You could draw us a picture about what you saw that day, with your dad, on the lake." Lucas didn't respond or even look at him. "Okay, no problem." He held out the drawing that he made, it being just stick people. "This is for you." Lucas glanced towards the drawing for a split second before looking away. Dean pointed to each stick figure as he spoke more, his voice cracking when he mentioned his mother. "This is my family. That's my dad. That's my mom. That's my geek brother and that's me." Lucas didn't show any more signs of listening. "Alright, so, I'm a sucky artist," Dean stated. "Selena, what did you draw?" he asked as he looked over at Selena.

        Selena placed down the red color pencil that she had in her hand and she lifted up the paper, turning it towards Dean. Dean's mouth fell slightly open as he stared at the anime masterpiece that Selena had created. On the paper was a silver haired male in a red kimono and a blue haired woman in a black flowery kimono, both of them embraced in a kiss and both had a pair of animal ears connected to their head that appeared to be a part of them. Additionally, the woman had a bandage wrapped around her head and blush in her cheeks, the male having blush in his cheeks as well. "Is it good?" Selena asked. "Did I do good?" She looked nervous, biting her lip. "I'm a little rusty."

        "A little rusty? Selena, it's fantastic." Dean reached forward and lightly took the drawing from her hands, looking at it in awe. "I never thought you'd be thinking about things like this in that brain of yours, Selena," he stated, letting out a chuckle. He smiled up at Selena. "So, who's the broad with Inuyasha?" Selena's eyes widened and a smile slowly appeared on her face. Upon realizing what he just said, Dean cleared his throat and placed the drawing on the table. "Don't tell Sammy," he remarked, rubbing his face.

        Selena released a giggle and nodded. "I won't tell Sam. The woman is a character I created at the top of my head. I don't have a name for her yet." She looked towards Lucas and clapped her hands together. "I think you should keep it, Lucas. And maybe someday, you'll be a professional artist and you'll live in a big house with your family." She slightly swayed where she was kneeling, a childish and happy aura around her. After a moment, she stood up and brushed off her knees. "Dean and I will be taking our leave now, but we really hope to see you again soon." She looked towards Dean with a bright smile and Dean found himself smiling back as he placed his drawing down on the table when he got off of said table. The two of them began to head back over to Andrea, Riley, and Sam.

        "So, uh, what the hell was that back there?" Dean asked Selena as they walked slowly together. Selena looked towards him with a confused expression and Dean began rephrasing his question into several sentences. "You were so childlike, still kinda are at the moment, and I want to know how that suddenly just, well, happened. You're always so formal and you speak intelligently all the time. Why the sudden shift in personality?" He was curious as to what he witnessed.

        Selena paused her walking, placing her hand on Dean's right arm so that he stopped walking, too. She turned to face him entirely and he faced her as well, staring back at her. "That is a very simple question for me to answer and the answer is that there was no sudden shift in my personality. Only the awakening of something that was already here, it just merely was hidden all this time." Noting Dean's confused expression, she continued. "I had no normal childhood because of my mother," she revealed. Dean's confusion became a look of both sadness and shock. "She kept me indoors at all costs and my only connection to the outside world were through the many books within her home. All I had for fun was drawing. By the time I met my father and Riley when I was thirteen, I had already grown accustom to being productive; I rarely did anything fun apart from drawing and I very rarely watched television. Only difference between the two locations was that I was allowed to leave the house and my life wasn't being controlled." She smiled sadly at Dean. "I suppose you now know why I am how I am. But in the end, Riley and I found ourselves meeting you and Sam. And I wouldn't change that for anything, even if I could have a better life apart from what I have right now."

        Dean stared at her for a moment before he glanced towards where Andrea, Riley, and Sam were located. None of them were looking that way. He looked back towards Selena. "Come here." He held out his arms and Selena stepped forward, allowing Dean to embrace her in a hug. While he had been aware that Riley and Selena had entered a hunter's life only two years ago, he hadn't thought that Selena's life beforehand had been difficult like his own had been since the day his mother had died. He could relate to her in a way, his childhood not being the best either and he missed out on about as much as Selena had. Lastly, he didn't see why her meeting him and Sam mattered at all but he thought it was kind of nice for her to say something like that to him. "Don't tell anyone about this either," Dean mumbled, smiling a little when Selena laughed slightly. He released his hold on her and lightly pat her shoulder. "Come on." He began walking ahead, heading towards the others with Selena following behind him.

        "What are the doctors saying?" Sam asked Andrea as Dean and Selena walked up to them. Andrea, Riley, and Sam acknowledged their arrival but not verbally, only just looking in the direction of Dean and Selena before going back to the conversation at hand.

        Andrea let out a sigh. "That it's a kind of post-traumatic stress."

        Sam shook his head slightly as he placed his gaze elsewhere. "That can't be easy. For either of you."

        "No shit, Sherlock," Riley remarked. Everyone looked towards her and she placed her hands up in defense. "What? I'm just saying that it's obvious that," she gestures to Andrea, "Andrea and Lucas are going through a rough patch right now. I'm sorry, but not sorry, that my mannerism isn't as polite as Selena's." She gestured towards Andrea again. "You can proceed with...whatever you were gonna say to us next."

        Andrea began to explain what had occurred after her husband drowned. "We moved in with my dad. He helps out a lot. It's just... When I think about what Lucas went through, what he saw..." She stopped speaking as she looked towards where Lucas was. She just couldn't imagine what it felt like for him to have witnessed his father die. While she herself was still mourning her husband's death, what she was feeling couldn't possibly be compared to what Lucas was feeling because he had been there while she hadn't.

        "Kids are strong," Dean stated, speaking up. "You'd be surprised what they can deal with." Selena nodded in agreement with Dean's words. Riley stared at Selena questionably, her eyebrow raising but Selena didn't look towards her at all. Riley shrugged it off, planning to ask her what was going on between them later. But she had some sort of idea in mind: the two had bonded with each other after all.

        Andrea began to speak again as Lucas began to make his way over to them with a drawing in his hands. "You know, he used to have such life. He was hard to keep up with, to tell you the truth. Now he just sits there. Drawing those pictures, playing with those army men. I just wish-" She turned her attention back to Lucas as he reached where they all were. "Hey, Sweetie."

        Lucas didn't say a single word but he did hold up his drawing in between Dean and Selena. Dean took the drawing from Lucas as Andrea looked towards Dean. "Thanks. Thanks, Lucas," Dean told him as he looked at the drawing in his hand. It was a picture of the Carlton household. Dean and Selena exchanged a look with each other as Lucas headed back to the table. Riley and Sam glanced towards the drawing, noting what it was and they glanced at each other themselves, sharing a look with one another before sharing a look with both Dean and Selena. Something had to be amiss...

**~(Approximately) November 20th, 2005** **; Lake Manitoc, Wisconsin~**

        Within the motel room, Dean was sitting on the bed that was meant to be his own. Riley and Sam were nowhere in sight, Dean not knowing where Riley was but he was aware that Sam had went for a drive in the Impala. Laying in the bed that Dean had originally claimed was Selena and she was sleeping soundlessly, her head resting on her arms as she slept on her stomach. Dean was staring down at her, a tiny grin forming on his face. He removed himself from the bed and he went over to Sam's (the bed that Selena was meant to sleep on), pulling the blanket off of it. Carrying it back over to the bed that Selena was resting on, he covered her up with the blanket since she was laying on top of the other one. Dean was too occupied with making sure Selena didn't get cold that he hadn't noticed Sam walking into the room until he glanced up towards the door after the deed was done. Caught in the act, he sighed and straightened back up, having been leaning over. "Not a word, Sam," he said. "Not a single word."

        Sam half-smiled and gestured towards Selena. "Actually, I think anyone would've done what you just did," he told Dean. Dean shrugged slightly, kind of agreeing with him. Sam sighed afterwards and he began to frown. "So," he began, getting to the point of why he was back so quickly. "I think it's safe to say we can rule out Nessie." Dean looked at him questionably and opened his mouth to speak but Sam continued on talking. "I just drove past the Carlton house. There was an ambulance there. Will Carlton is dead."

        "He drowned?" Dean questioned.

        "Yep. In the sick," Sam revealed.

        "So much for Selena getting laid," Riley commented as she entered the motel room, having heard the last little bits of the conversation that had yet finished. She had been outside, hanging around the front of the motel just walking around aimlessly. She never did like staying in one location for a long amount of time, loving to constantly be moving around. "That poor bastard," she continued as she walked by Sam, moving to sit on Sam's bed. She smiled to herself as she saw Selena sleeping on Dean's bed and she smirked at Dean afterwards. "Oh, so Selena can sleep on your bed but I can't even lay on it? Where's the fairness in that?"

        Dean glared at her for a moment before smirking back at her. "Easy. She isn't as annoying as you are." Well, that was part of the reason why he was allowing Selena to sleep on his bed. Dean went back to the matter at hand. "So, this isn't a creature. We're dealing with something else." What kind of creature, with a power over water, could kill someone inside their own home by drowning the person within a sink? That's the first time he ever heard of such a thing occurring to anyone.

        "Yeah, but what?" Sam questioned as he gently took a seat on the bed that Selena was sleeping on. He made a panicked face when Selena shifted slightly in her sleep but relaxed when Selena remained sleeping.

        "I don't know," Dean answered. "Water wraith, maybe? Some kind of demon? A water imp? Maybe a rogue mermaid or whatever it was called? Uh, a rogue siren like Selena suggested earlier. I mean, it's something that controls water." He immediately paused as he quickly realized something and he shared a look with Sam, Sam coming to the same conclusion as him. "Water that comes from the same source," he finished.

        "The lake," Sam stated, on the same page as Dean. "Which would explain why it's upping the body count. The lake is draining. It'll be dry in a few months. Whatever this thing is, whatever it wants, it's running out of time."

        Riley made a face. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me." She groaned as she placed her head in her hands. "And to make matters worse, the...thing can get through the pipes and it can end up absolutely anywhere, get anyone. And it's likely going to get someone else soon enough." She lifted her head and stared at the brothers whom stared back at her. "I think you both should visit Bill. I mean, his kids died so he has to be connected, in some way, to what's happening at the lake." She wanted to avoid going to the lake at all costs. She was near it once, but she isn't getting near it a second time. She just wasn't.

        "What about you?" Dean asked, staring at her. "Aren't you coming, too?"

        Riley shook her head and nodded towards still sleeping Selena. "I'm not leaving Selena here alone. I'm just not. You two just... Just go already. The faster you get information outta Bill, the closer we'll get to figure out what we're dealing with in this town." The Winchester brothers nodded and the two of them soon left the motel room, neither of them questioning Riley's decision or her normal attitude. Riley stared at her sleeping sister, frowning as a thought crossed her mind. The only thing she could think of that could kill people by drowning them in their sinks or even their bathtubs was a spirit and spirits were Selena's one true nightmare...

**~(Approximately) November 20th, 2005 **; Lake Manitoc, Wisconsin** ~**

        Dean and Sam had no luck with getting any information out of Bill Carlton when they went to question him. As a result, Dean decided that they'd go to the next best person: Lucas. Lucas had drawn a picture of the Carlton house and before long, Will Carlton had drowned within his own kitchen. Perhaps the kid had some sort of psychic connection to the creature, whatever the creature was. Apart from Lucas being a likely helpful candidate, Dean had found himself caring about the young boy a lot, just about as much as he cared for Selena already. While Lucas and Selena were different in age, they both contained innocence that Dean felt he needed to protect. So, Dean and Sam headed to the Barr-Devins household and upon arriving, Dean and Sam had immediately spotted Riley's car in the driveway.

        When they entered the house after being invited inside by Andrea, Dean and Sam spotted Riley sitting on the couch. When Dean sent a glare her way, Riley just waved slightly with a half-smile on her face that made Dean drop his glare immediately; something definitely had to be wrong for Riley to be sending smiles his way and not smirks. But Dean ignored the weird feeling in his gut and he explained things to Andrea, telling her that they needed to speak with her son about something important. And the immediate answer he had gotten wasn't something he wanted to hear. "I'm sorry, but I'll tell you what I told your friends. I just don't think it's a good idea," Andrea told him. She didn't know what they were up to and she didn't see a point to it. Lucas wasn't ever going to answer and he'd probably never even speak again.

        "I just need to talk to him," Dean told her, not taking no for an answer. "Just for a few minutes." He glanced around the room for any sign of Selena, having learnt that she was there as well, but she wasn't anywhere in sight. Strangely, he already had a feeling as to where she was located. But maybe that wasn't too strange, him knowing exactly where she was, because based on Selena's personality, she'd likely be located in Lucas's room and anyone could have guessed that.

        Andrea still didn't see a point in any of this. She placed her hands on her hips. She was dressed in something different than what they had seen her in earlier that day. Her blouse was light pink with a darker shade of pink lightly buttoned shirt over it and her skirt was blue denim. "He won't say anything. What good's it gonna do?" She had no hope in these men or even in the girls. Her son simply wouldn't do anything, she was sure of it. That one drawing that Lucas gave Dean was a fluke.

        "Andrea," Sam began, speaking softly. "We think more people might get hurt. We think something's happening out there."

        Andrea looked towards Sam, a doubtful and serious look on her face. "That's exactly what Riley told me," she stated. She had gotten into a small, kind of nice conversation with Riley before the brothers arrived and it had turned towards the topic of the 'accidental' drownings. By this point, Andrea wanted nothing more to do with talking about what happened. "But my husband, the others, they just drowned. That's all."

        "If that's what you really believe, then we'll go," Dean spoke up, making Andrea look back at him. "But considering you allowed Riley and Selena to stay, you believe that there's a possibility that something else is going on here. So, please let me talk to your son." Andrea hesitated as she stared at him before she nodded slightly, walking past him to lead him towards her son's room. Dean and Sam followed silently behind her, Riley remaining where she was. As they grew closer to Lucas's bedroom, they could hear Selena's voice as she spoke.

        "...Oh? This one is your favorite?" Selena spoke in question, her voice gentle and full of kindness. When Andrea, Dean, and Sam appeared at the open door of Lucas's room, the three of them spotted Selena holding a toy soldier in her hand while she remained sitting on her knees across from Lucas, more toy soldiers on the floor in between the two of them along with more drawings that Lucas created. Selena stared at Lucas with her head tilted and Lucas looked up at her for a moment, nodding his head ever so slightly before he looked back down at his drawing. Selena nodded and she looked at the toy soldier. "I see. Mmm. Most would believe that there is not much difference between toy soldiers, apart from their different stances. But to others, they can see the significance that each one holds." She gently placed down the toy soldier, this toy solider taking a stance where its legs were spread out and his arms were towards the air. "Such as this one. It is slightly more worn out than the others but I must say that I am curious as to why you have chosen it as your favorite." She hummed to herself as she tilted her head once more, eyeing the toy she just placed down.

        Dean finally stepped into the room, Andrea and Sam remaining by the doorway. "Hey," he greeted in a soft tone, not wanting to frighten either of them. Selena looked towards Dean and she smiled, rubbing one of her eyes as she let out a small yawn. Dean crouched down a little ways beside Selena, remaining by the door. He turned his attention towards Lucas. "Hey, Lucas. You remember me?" Dean paused for a moment, waiting for any sort of reaction from Lucas and when he got none, he looked down towards the drawings and looked through a few of them, spotting the same red bicycle. Dean half-smiled as he looked back up at Lucas. "So, uh, I see that you've taken a better liking towards Selena. I don't blame you. She has a heart of gold," Dean remarked, slightly looking towards Selena as he finished his sentence. Selena smiled happily at him, pleased with the compliment. Dean looked back towards Lucas. "You know, I, uh," Dean continued, shifting to where he was actually sitting on the floor. "I wanted to thank you for that last drawing. But the thing is, I need your help again."

        Lucas didn't look up towards Dean as he drew a picture of a person within some water. Dean reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out the folded up drawing that Lucas gave him. He opened up the folds and he placed it down in front of Lucas gently. "How did you know to draw this?" Dean questioned him, continuing his speaking. "Did you know something bad was gonna happen? Maybe you could nod yes or no for me?" he continued but Lucas didn't look towards him at all. Dean looked towards Selena, silently asking for some sort of help. Selena just continued to smile, except in a sadder way, and she gestured towards Lucas, silently telling him to continue. Dean nodded shortly, understanding what she wanted him to do; Selena did hear his voice crack earlier at the park when Dean mentioned his mother after all but she just hadn't mentioned it.

        Upon looking back towards Lucas, Dean suddenly came to the realization that Lucas had to be scared. And because of this, he knew exactly why Selena wanted him to speak up about something he considered to be private. Well, at the very moment, he didn't care about speaking of private matters. He needed to help this kid. "You're scared," Dean stated. As he continued to speak, his eyes began to appear watery and behind him, Sam had turned his attention away from Lucas and towards Dean. "It's okay. I understand. See, when I was your age, I saw something real bad happen to my mom and I was scared, too. I didn't feel like talking, just like you. But see, my mom, I know she wanted me to be brave. I think about that every day. And I do my best to be brave. And maybe, your dad wants you to be brave, too." Dean stared at Lucas as Lucas dropped the crayon he was holding, his attention finally turning towards Dean. He looked down for a moment, looking through his drawings and he picked up one, looking back at Dean as he handed it to him. "Thanks, Lucas," Dean said as he looked at the drawing of a white church, a yellow house, and a boy with a blue baseball cap beside a red bicycle in front of a wooden fence.

        Selena gently stood up from where she was kneeling and she stepped around the toys, leaning over to place her hand on Dean's shoulder. He looked towards her and she whispered to him. "I'm sorry for the loss of your mother. But thank you for speaking of it with him. I had figured you had this...problem in common with him." Upon from what she had overheard in the park, she came to the assumption that Dean and Sam lost their mother at a young age. She was happy, and sad, that Dean had understood what she had wanted him to tell Lucas, happy that he had understood her to begin with and sad that he had to speak of something personal in front of everyone. She wrapped her arm around his and she began gently pulling on it, indicating that she wanted him to stand up and he did so with no questions asked. Without another word being spoken, Dean and Selena exited the room, heading down the hall and Sam followed close behind them, Andrea remaining at Lucas's room. Upon stepping outside the house with Riley in toll, Selena glanced in between the two cars and she followed after the brothers to theirs. "May I ride with you?" she asked quickly, perhaps a bit too quickly.

        Dean and Sam turned towards her as they both stopped on either side of the Impala, both of them immediately concerned about the urgency in her tone. "Are you alright?" Sam asked. He felt that maybe she had been effected by Dean's words and she wanted to stick around them for some sort of emotional support. But he couldn't be more wrong, for the most part.

        "I am fine," Selena answered. "However, I wish not to ride in my sister's vehicle while I can." She glanced towards Riley's car and rubbed her arms as she shifted slightly on her feet. "It is a death machine. I do not like being within any car but hers gives me the worst case of anxiety and it has not ceased." She gulped as she looked back towards the Winchester brothers, speaking very slowly as she finished speaking. "I suppose you could say that I have a large fear of her vehicle."

        "I knew it!" Riley exclaimed as she approached Selena from behind. She had followed behind Selena and the Winchesters when they were exiting the house but she had began heading towards her car until she noticed Selena heading towards the Impala, hence why she was now behind Selena again but by the Impala and not her own car. Riley crossed her arms and smirked, proud that she was correct. "I knew you had a fear of my car this entire time. You're always your happiest when you're rushing to get out of it. I knew you had been lying when you kept telling me you weren't scared."

        Selena turned slightly on her heels to look at Riley. "That's incorrect. You had assumed my fear was of death this whole time, not of the car itself." Riley scoffed, making a 'whatever' face. Selena looked back towards Dean and Sam. "Can I please ride with you...?" she asked again, more anxiously.

        Dean nodded. "Get in." He watched as Selena quickly headed to Sam's side of the Impala and watched as she got into the backseat. He turned towards Riley. "We have a house to find. So, go do whatever it is you're good at," Dean told her as he got into his car, missing the glare that Riley sent his way. Once Sam had entered the Impala as well, Dean drove away from the house. When they were well on the road, Dean glanced towards the backseat for a split second before looking back at the road. "Doing okay back there, Selena?" he asked.

        "Yes," Selena answered after a moment. "I am much less anxious." Her eyes were closed, she was buckled in, and she was leaning against the seat. Her breathing was under control, far more under control than it would had been if she had been stuck in Riley's vehicle once more. She was going to enjoy this feeling while she could. She didn't know when she'd get another chance to rid with the brothers. Her anxiety had been the main reason, earlier that day, for her wanting them to take the Impala to the park.

        "Awesome," Dean replied. He began to speaking not only to Selena but to Sam as well. "So, Andrea said the kid never drew like that till his dad died." That was strange within itself, a kid suddenly becoming Picasso the second his father was deceased.

        Sam looked down towards the drawing that Lucas had given Dean, having took it from his brother's grasp earlier. "There are cases. Going through a traumatic experience could make people more sensitive to premonitions, psychic tendencies." Hearing this made Selena's eyes reopen and she leaned forward in her seat slightly. She didn't say anything in response to what Sam said but she surely was thinking about how the brothers would react if they were to learn that she had powers.

        "Look, whatever's out there, what if Lucas is tapping into it somehow?" Dean questioned. Hearing Sam made an unsure sound, he continued quickly. "It's only a matter of time before somebody else drowns so if you got a better lead, please."

        Selena spoke up. "Finding the house that Lucas has drawn for us should be our top priority as of this very moment." She reached forward, tapping Sam's shoulder. "May I?" Sam headed the drawing to her and she leaned back in her seat, staring at the picture. "There are many yellow two-story homes within this country but there are much less with a white church by its side. That narrows down our search quite a bit, don't you think? Additionally, I..." She paused as she released a sigh. Dean and Sam shared at look with each other before Dean looked back towards the road and Sam looked towards the backseat. "Truthfully, Riley shared this information with me while she drove herself, and myself, to see Andrea and Lucas. And sadly, I have to agree with her on it." She paused again, closing her eyes as she once again sighed. "We believe that what we are dealing with...is a spirit seeking revenge of some sort." She handed back the drawing to Sam as she turned her gaze towards the window on her right, not bothering to mention that Riley suggested for the Winchesters to finish the case alone because of Selena's fear of spirits. But Selena couldn't bring herself to agree with Riley when the suggestion was made because she wanted to get over this fear and she wanted to be of assistance to the brothers that she considered friends.

        Sam thought for a moment as he sat correctly in his seat again. "You may be right about that. We'll have to wait and see what we come up with." Dean nodded in agreement with his younger brother's words. Selena hummed in response, a half-smile on her face. Apart from the gentle music playing and the sound of the Impala going down the road, it became silent between the three of them. But only for a few seconds because Sam turned his attention towards Dean. "You know, um... What you said about Mom, you never told me that before."

        "It's not a big deal," Dean responded. When Sam didn't reply, he looked over at Sam and immediately caught the look that Sam was giving him. He looked away from Sam and groaned. "Oh, God, we're not gonna have to hug or anything, are we?" Sam looked away from him with a smile, snorting.

        Selena tilted her head to the left as she stared at the back of Dean's head. "How come you hugged me at the park if you are against showing emotion through an embrace?" She hadn't meant to reveal this information, the information that Dean wanted her to keep from Sam but she didn't think about it. She was confused as to why she was an exception.

        Sam's eyes widened as his smile grew bigger, his attention back on Dean. "You hugged Selena? In the park? Around everyone?" Dean released a second groan and he kept his eyes on the road. Sam looked towards the backseat, towards Selena, for a second before looking back at Dean. "That...actually doesn't really surprise me as much as it does with the whole hugging in public thing." He looked away from Dean and towards his window. "Wow." He let out another snort as he shook his head. Yeah, Dean had definitely bonded with Selena at the park and Riley had been right to assume such would occur. Sam believed that Selena was a good influence on Dean, to be honest, since she appeared to be bringing out Dean's deeply hidden emotions.

        Dean groaned a third time. "Thanks a lot, Selena." Though he didn't see it, Selena sent him an apologetic smile.

        Before long, Dean pulled up to the first church they spotted. Selena remained in the Impala while Dean and Sam went to knock on the door of the yellow house across from the church. Coincidentally, it was the correct home and they were invited inside where they both learnt information about a young boy named Peter Sweeney, a kid that had gone missing thirty-five years beforehand. After gaining this information and after finding a picture of not only Peter but of Bill Carlton, Dean and Sam returned to the Impala, explaining what they learnt to Selena as Dean began driving the Impala to the Carlton household.

        Selena rubbed the back of her head as she sighed. "Riley and I were correct, it appears," she began after the explanation ended. She began summing up what she just listened to. "Peter Sweeney, a young boy, vanishes and his disappearance is connected to Bill Carlton because the victims were his family." She frowned, shaking her head. "For his spirit to come back and seek revenge like this, it is likely that Bill could have killed him."

        "That's what we're thinking," Dean remarked. "Maybe now, if we tell him that he's in danger, he'll-" Whatever he was going to say wouldn't had been the best bet either way. Bill had hardly acknowledge Dean and Sam when they visited him earlier so Bill was just about as likely to remain silent, even when given a warning, as he had the first time.

        "Drive faster," Selena interrupted him. "If Bill Carlton did indeed kill Peter Sweeney, he must be aware of Peter's presence by now." She was speaking in a very serious tone, more so than she usually did. "He'll likely give Peter what he wants. His own death." With that, Dean sped up as they raced to get to the Carlton home.

        Eventually pulling into the driveway of the house, the three of them quickly exited the Impala and they immediately heard the engine of a boat. Turning their attention towards the lake, they spotted Bill pulling away from the dock within the boat that they had heard. The three hunters sprinted down the dock immediately, yelling for Bill to turn the boat around and to get out of the water. As the three of them eventually stood on the edge of the dock still yelling, Bill looked towards them but he made no move to turn around and he continued further out onto the lake. As his boat went a little ways further, the three hunters watched in horror as the boat and Bill were sent flying into the air by a large, and sudden, burst of water that soon submerged them both before the waters of the lake became calm once more. Selena released a whimper as she gripped onto Dean's right arm and Dean found himself pulling her close to him, wrapping said arm around her shoulder protectively when she released her grip as Sam placed his left hand on Selena's right arm gently. Still horror-struck, the three of them stared at the lake...

**~(Approximately) November 20th, 2005 **; Lake Manitoc, Wisconsin** ~**

        On the ride back into town, Selena made a call to Riley and informed her of what occurred, still a bit shaken up by what she had witnessed. In response, Riley simply told her that she was waiting at the station. Upon their arrival to the station, Dean, Sam, and Selena spotted Sheriff Devins standing by the entrance with his arms crossed and they all knew, or at least had a feeling, that their cover had been blown. Getting out of the car, the three hunters walked by the sheriff as they headed into the station, the sheriff heading in behind them. Inside the station, Riley was leaning against a desk and she removed herself from it upon seeing them enter. Andrea, holding a paper bag and a plastic container, stood up from the chair she had been sitting in, placing the items onto the chair afterwards. Beside the chair was Lucas, rocking back and forth in a way that appeared to be some sort of anxiety symptom.

        "Sam. Dean. Selena," Andrea greeted as she turned towards them. "I didn't expect to see you here, too." She gestured towards Riley as her father, Dean, Sam, and Selena walked alongside the desk, Riley being located on the opposite side of the desk like herself (Riley was standing near her). "Riley didn't mention that you were coming. We were having a really nice chat about cooking." Upon discovering this, Dean sent a  _really_  look at Riley and she rolled her eyes in response, half-smiling and nodding afterwards.

        "So, now you're on a first name basis," Sheriff Devins stated, sounding like he was accusing them of something. He didn't seem all that happy about this information either. "What are you doing here?" he asked Andrea as he moved around the desk. He hadn't known that she was there because after he had gotten Riley from the motel, he sent her inside the station without following behind her and, apparently, Andrea had already entered the station herself with Lucas sometime beforehand.

        "I brought you dinner," Andrea explained instantly, gesturing towards the paper bag and plastic container. Behind her, Lucas was still rocking anxiously in the chair he was sitting in. Selena took notice of this quickly, but she was unable to reach him due to her being towards the back of the line, considering that the sheriff had maneuvered himself from the back to the front just moments ago.

        "I'm sorry, sweetheart. I really don't have the time right now," Sheriff Devins informed her apologetically. He removed his jacket as Andrea turned her gaze towards Dean, Sam, and Selena.

        Andrea looked back towards her father, speaking hesitatingly. "I heard about Bill Carlton," she revealed. Her father looked towards her, surprised that she knew this information. Andrea gestured to Riley a second time. "Riley got a call from Selena and after she was informed about it, she told me," she explained. She crossed her arms. "But is it true? Is there something going on with the lake?"

        "Right now, we don't know what the truth is," Sheriff Devins began. As he spoke, Selena gently touched Dean's arm and when he looked at her, she nodded towards Lucas with a worried expression. Dean looked towards Lucas himself and he saw that Lucas appeared to be very anxious. "But I think it might be better if you and Lucas went on home," Sheriff Devins finished.

        Upon hearing this, Lucas looked up from gazing at the floor and he stood, letting out a whimper as he quickly ran over to Dean, grabbing onto Dean's right arm. Immediately, Dean bent down to almost eye-level with Lucas and he spoke calmly, but urgently. "Lucas, hey, what is it?" Dean asked him. Lucas didn't respond, continuing with his whimpering as he stared at Dean with fear in his eyes. Lucas began tugging on Dean's arm and Andrea moved to pry Lucas from Dean. "Lucas, it's okay. It's okay," Dean stated, his tone growing softer each time he repeated this to Lucas. Eventually, Lucas released Dean's arm and Dean gently brushed his hand against Lucas's head. "It's okay, Lucas." Though he wasn't holding onto Dean anymore, Lucas continued looking at him and when his mother began pushing him forward gently so that they could leave, Lucas looked towards Selena and reached out for her, whimpering again.

        Selena crouched down as Dean stepped aside. Andrea seemed hesitate to release Lucas, but Selena gave her a reassuring look. No longer being held back, Lucas ran over to Selena and wrapped his arms around her, whimpering more. Selena wrapped her own arms around him, placing one hand on his back and another on his head. "Shhh," she whispered. "You'll be okay, Lucas. Remember what I told you." She gently pulled him from her arms and he looked up at her with much fear in his eyes still. Selena placed her hands on his shoulders. "Nothing bad is going to happen to you or your mother," Selena continued, still whispering. "I'd never allow that to happen, none of us would." She smiled a little at him. "You need to be brave, okay? For your mom." She gave him another gentle hug and whispered even lower into his ear. "I'll be seeing you again later, I promise." Lucas's whimpers had faded again but the fear remained in his eyes, though it wasn't as bad. Selena looked up and met Andrea's gaze, signaling to Andrea that she and Lucas could leave now.

        Watching Andrea and Lucas leave the station was the hardest thing Dean and Selena could do, both of them watching as Lucas continued to look back at them both as Andrea lead him out of the station. Dean and Selena glanced at each other before they turned their attention towards the sheriff. But before their attention was fully on the sheriff, the two of them caught Riley and Sam smiling at them. Dean avoided their gaze immediately as he looked towards the sheriff while Selena shared a smile with Riley and Sam; Dean appeared to be a slight bit embarrassed while Selena was not. Everyone's gaze soon turning towards the sheriff, they all noticed that he seemed more pissed off now with Andrea and Lucas being gone than he had been while the two had been there. He stormed into his office and, after looking at one another, the four hunters entered the office after him.

        Dean was standing behind the chair Selena was sitting in. Sam was standing behind the chair Riley was sitting in. In front of the four of them was Sheriff Devins and he didn't seem to believe a word of what they had explained to him for the past hour and a half. "Okay, just so I'm clear, you see something attack Bill's boat, sending Bill, who is a very good swimmer by the way, into the lake and you never see him again?" Sheriff Devins stared at the four in disbelief, still not believing them but waiting for an answer.

        Dean glanced towards Sam as Sam glanced towards him. Dean looked back at the sheriff. "Yeah, that about sums it up."

        Sheriff Devins spoke again, sounding annoyed and tired. "And I'm supposed to believe this, even though I've already sonar-swept that entire lake and what you're describing is impossible? And you're not really Wildlife Service?" He watched as the four hunters made expressions that showed that they had been caught red-handed. "That's right, I checked. Department's never heard of you four."

        "See, now, we can explain that," Dean started, prepared to be the one to explain everything. However, he didn't get a chance to do so.

        "Enough," Sheriff Devins retorted. "Please. The only reason you're breathing free air is one of Bill's neighbors saw him steering out that boat just before you did." He had gotten a call while he was waiting for Dean, Sam, and Selena to make an appearance, around when Riley told him that she'd call them. Which she hadn't actually done, but she had gotten a call from Selena and chose to do what the sheriff wanted anyways. "So, we have a couple of options here. I can arrest you for impersonating government officials and hold you as material witnesses to Bill Carlton's disappearance or we can chalk this all up to a bad day, you get into your cars, you put this town in your rearview mirrors, and you don't ever darken my doorstep again."

        "Door number two sounds good," Sam answered immediately.

        "That's the one I'd pick," Sheriff Devins said angrily. "Now. Get out."

        Exiting the office and the station together, the Winchester brothers and the Grant-Piers sisters moved to stand in two separate places. Dean and Sam stood by the Impala while Riley and Grant stood in the middle of the sidewalk in which they were going to head down soon so that they could get to their own car that was still parked at the motel. Both sets of siblings still had to get their belongings out of the motel room, but they were choosing to say goodbye in front of the station. "So, uh," Dean began. "This is it, I guess. Until next time, anyways." Dean was certain that there would be a next time, that this wouldn't be the last he saw of the sisters. Deep down, however, he couldn't shake the feeling that everything still wasn't okay. But he didn't voice this out loud, not to them. Because part of him knew that Riley and Selena weren't about to just up and leave. Dean looked at Selena. "You, uh, you did a great job. Helped us out a lot."

        Selena smiled. "Thank you, Dean." Dean nodded slightly.

        Riley made a face. "Yo. Stop flirting with my little sister, Dean Winchester, before I shoot off your balls." She placed her hand on the back of her pants for emphasis, her hand over where her gun was located since she didn't have her holster this time around.

        Dean instantly covered up the front of his pants reflexively as he saw Riley reached towards her gun. Well, she didn't exactly reach for it but he thought she had. "Whoa, now. Take it easy there, hot shot. I wasn't flirting, I was praising." He lowered his hands to his sides as Riley lowered her hand. "And it's disgusting how you think I feel that way towards her. She's more like a sister I want to protect than anything else."

        Riley smirked at him. "I know. I just wanted to get you to admit it out loud." She knew that Selena got to him. She fucking knew it. She called that shit since the Wendigo incident. And knowing this was true made her happy because it meant that there was more to Dean Winchester than he often showed to others. There was hope for their unstable friendship yet.

        Dean made a face, not amused by what just transpired. "Oh, that was just dirty." Beside him, Sam was chuckling. "Shut up, Sammy." Sam did not in fact shut up, he continued laughing. "I mean it, Sam. Stop laughing."

        Riley shook her head at him and she let out a small laugh. The look on Dean's face softened a bit. "I know what I did was dirty. It's why I did it." She approached him and stopped once she was standing right in front of him, their faces close together. "I always knew you were a softie somewhere behind all of that angst." She leaned up and placed a kiss on his left cheek, the first time she ever showed him this sort of affection. "Hope to be seeing you boys again real soon." She turned and walked away from a surprised Dean whom slowly began to smile. "Because," Riley continued, looking back at Dean and Sam. "Even I have to admit that you both make things more interesting for us." She looked away again and she walked past Selena, making her way to the motel slowly. Waving goodbye to the brothers, Selena turned and followed after Riley. Dean and Sam entered the Impala, driving to the motel and by the time they had their things packed, they were driving away from the motel as Riley and Selena approached it...

**~(Approximately) November 20th, 2005 **; Lake Manitoc, Wisconsin** ~**

        Mere coincidence it was for Riley and Selena to arrive at the Barr-Devins home just as trouble was beginning to brew that night. Technically, the two of them had been parked outside for a while, unnoticed by Andrea, and they had been waiting for anything unusual to occur in the most riskiest way because there was no telling when an attack would occur or if they'd even hear it occurring once it did. But thanks to Selena becoming anxious, the two of them had exited the car and approached the front door, ringing the doorbell. When a terrified Lucas opened the door, Riley and Selena sprung into action, leaving the door open behind them as they quickly followed Lucas up to the bathroom that his mother was trapped within.

        Water was pouring out from beneath the bathroom door and it continued down the nearby stairs. Riley grabbed ahold of Lucas as Selena attempted to get the door open by slamming herself against it. When the door wouldn't budge, she hit the wall with her fist as she felt herself slowly beginning to freeze up as she recalled what they were dealing with, her eyes looking towards Lucas as she turned. He was staring at her, scared at what was occurring. Seeing this, Selena pushed back her own fear. She was going to save his mother and she was going to have to use her powers to do it. "Lucas, please don't be afraid of me after what you are about to witness." Selena looked away from him and gestured her hand towards the door, the door flying open and it almost became loose on its hinge. Inside the bathroom, Andrea was struggling to take breath as she was dragged underneath the water of the bathtub. Selena ran into the bathroom, immediately sticking her arms into the tub as she tried pulling her out, all while attempting to control the water so that Andrea could breathe whilst still underwater.

        As soon as Selena began her attempts to pull Andrea out of the water, she could hear someone running through the house. And soon, Sam appeared behind her and he was helping her with her attempts to pull Andrea out. Outside the bathroom, Dean stood with Lucas and Riley, Lucas having moved into Dean's arms as soon as Dean arrived. Together, Sam and Selena pulled Andrea above the surface of the water but the spirit of Peter was fighting to pull her back down as Andrea coughed out water, panting heavily. Luckily, Sam and Selena were able to pull Andrea out of the tub completely, the three of them falling onto the bathroom floor. Quickly, Riley moved past Dean and she grabbed a towel, wrapping it around Andrea as Sam and Selena released their hold on her...

**~(Approximately) November 21st, 2005 **; Lake Manitoc, Wisconsin** ~**

        Dawn was breaking by the time everything had cooled down. Andrea and Sam were sitting within the living room, sitting at a table together. Andrea was wearing more comfortable clothing now but she still appeared distressed after what she had gone through. Elsewhere, Dean was looking through notebooks on the bookshelves with Riley lending a helping hand. Selena was sitting crisscross on the floor by a window near Andrea and Sam, her back against what little wall there was underneath said window. Lastly, Lucas approached Selena as he moved across the living room, taking a seat on his knees in front of her. Selena gazed at him and when she didn't spot any fear within his eyes, she smiled at him and nearly released a sigh of relief, happy that the young boy wasn't scared of her after what he witnessed her do.

        "It doesn't make any sense," Andrea commented. She began to cry. "I'm going crazy." She placed her face into her hands. None of this could be real. She wanted to believe that she dreamt it all up, but she knew that wouldn't be true. She just couldn't believe that all of this was real, that what happened really happened.

        "No, you're not," Sam gently told her. He placed a comforting hand on her arm for a second. "Tell me what happened. Everything." He needed to hear the information. Honestly, he just wanted this case to be done with already. The only good thing about it, in his opinion, was spending time with Riley and Selena again. But he even had to admit to himself that he was a bit concerned for this family. He wasn't a total dickhead.

        Andrea cupped her hands together in front of her mouth for a moment before moving her hands to her right cheek. "I heard... I thought I heard..." She looked away from the table, her gaze going to Sam. "There was this voice. It said... It said  _come play with me_." She released a sob as tears streamed down her cheeks. "What's happening?"

        Dean and Riley headed over to where Andrea and Sam were, Dean dropping a scrapbook onto the table in front of Andrea. The scrapbook was opened to a page where a picture of a large group of boys with a sign sitting in front of them that read  **Explorers 37**  could be seen. "Do you recognize the kids in these pictures?" Dean asked. Standing behind Dean, Riley silently shifted back and forth on her feet, her eyes glancing back and forth between everyone in the room.

        "What?" Andrea asked before she processed the question. She dropped her hands from her face and she looked down at the scrapbook. "Um, um, no. I mean, except that's my dad right there." She pointed her father out in the picture before she pointed at a second picture of her father as a child, a close up picture that had Sheriff Devins standing right next to Peter. "He must have been about twelve in these pictures."

        Dean looked at Sam. "Chris Barr's drowning," he began shaking his head, "The connection wasn't to Bill Carlton." He pointed to the scrapbook. "It must have been to the sheriff." He was assuming this because the two (Jake and Peter) appeared to have known each other and, well, Andrea was attacked.

        Riley shook her head, disagreeing. "No, Dean." Dean turned to look at her. She looked him in the eye. "This is connected to Bill  _and_  the sheriff. I think they both were involved with Peter. I mean, they both had to have been or it wouldn't make sense as to why both of their families have been attacked by Peter." She opened her mouth to speak more but she saw movement in the corner of her eyes, turning her head towards the course of the movement. She spotted Lucas looking out the window and Selena was standing beside him, looking down towards him. "What is it?" Riley questioned. She turned her attention to Selena. "Selena?" Selena shrugged slightly as Lucas took her hand and lead her outside. Andrea, Dean, Riley, and Sam quickly followed behind the two of them. Lucas lead Selena a little ways from the house before he stopped and looked at the ground, looking up at Selena afterwards. Selena looked back towards everyone else.

        Dean moved to where Lucas and Selena stood, nodding slightly. "Selena, you and Lucas get back to the house." He glanced to Andrea. "Andrea, you too. And stay there, okay?" He didn't want them to see whatever it was that they would dig up from the ground, whether it was a corpse or maggots. They didn't need to see that. They shouldn't ever see something like that. Andrea and Lucas didn't need to get any more tainted by this mess. Selena didn't need to witness something like this ever again; she needed a normal, better life than this mess.

        Equipping themselves with shovels, Dean, Riley, and Sam began to dig where Lucas had been standing earlier. After just two movements with their digging each, their shovels banged against something. Dropping the shovels to the ground, the three of them dropped to their knees and began digging with their hands, soon grabbing ahold of what was buried and they pulled it out of the dirt. The object was a bike, Peter's bike. Suddenly, someone spoke behind them. "Who are you?" The three of them turned around as they stood up further and they came face to face with Sheriff Devins. "How did you know that was there?"

        "Pure instinct," Riley retorted. Sheriff Devins cocked his gun. "Whoa! Whoa, whoa!" She raised her hands. "Now, you don't have to go and shoot anybody. Just put the gun down and we'll all talk like normal civilized people." Sheriff Devins kept his gun raised at them. "Or you can just keep holding up the gun and I can just hope for the best outcome."

        "What happened?" Dean questioned the sheriff. "You and Bill killed Peter, drowned him in the lake and then buried the bike? You can't bury the truth, Jake. Nothing stays buried." He didn't seem to falter despite having a gun pointed at his face. Hell, it was like he didn't even give a shit. He had been through enough shit that a cop pointing a gun at him seemed like absolutely nothing.

        "I don't know what the hell you're talking about," Sheriff Devins lied, denying that anything had happened. There really was no point to him lying, however, since the proof was right there on the ground, unearthed by the Winchester brothers and Riley.

        "You and Bill killed Peter Sweeney thirty-five years ago. That's what the hell I'm talking about," Dean stated. Andrea, having left the safety of the house, ran towards them and came to a stop nearby. "And now you got one seriously pissed off spirit," Dean finished.

        "It's gonna take Andrea, Lucas, everyone you love," Sam began. "It's gonna drown them. And it's gonna drag their bodies God knows where so you can feel the same pain Peter's mom felt. And then, after that, it's gonna take you and it's not gonna stop until it does because that's exactly what it did to Bill Carlton."

        Sheriff Devins scoffed. "Listen to yourselves. You're insane."

        "We're insane?" Riley placed her hands on her hips, no longer raising them. "You're the one who's insane for thinking the world is full of lollipops and rainbows. Life as you know it isn't all that exists, my friend." She gestured, raising one hand and pointing her finger upwards, rotating her hand around. "There is so much worse shit than this out here in the world." She dropped her hand to her side, other hand still on her hips. "You were lucky enough to have a spirit that doesn't do anything far more brutal." She had a really good point. He was lucky because there were spirits, even other creatures, that killed their victims in more brutal ways than drowning. Compared to those creatures and other spirits, Peter was a Saint.

        Dean looked towards Riley, giving her a hard look. "Not helping, Riley." He looked back towards Sheriff Devins. "Look, I don't really give a rat's ass what you think of us. But if we're gonna bring down this spirit, we need to find the remains, salt them, and burn them into dust. Now, tell me you buried Peter somewhere. Tell me you didn't just let him go in the lake." Or otherwise, they were so fucked. There would be no possible way of them getting rid of Peter's spirit if his corpse was lost in the lake somewhere, most likely deeply hidden by Peter himself. Sheriff Devins hesitated, his eyes shifting between everyone that was in front of him.

        Meanwhile, back towards the house, Lucas had gone outside and he was silently watching. Selena was standing near him with her arms crossed and she was temporarily distracted by what was commencing in front of her that she failed to notice that Lucas had gotten up and that he had began walking away, going towards the lake. However, it didn't take long for Selena to quickly turned her attention elsewhere and, when realizing Lucas had ran off, she immediately went after him without a moment of hesitation, knowing exactly where he was heading because of Peter. However, once the lake came to view, Selena froze up as the full blast of the situation hit her. This was a spirit they were dealing with. She was terrified of those spirits. Earlier, she somehow had been able to fight back the urge to freeze up but right now, she just couldn't do it...

        Back at the digging site, Andrea stared at her father in disbelief. "Dad, is any of this true?" She couldn't believe her ears at what she was listening in on. He couldn't have done something bad, right...?

        "No, of course not," Sheriff Devins answered immediately. His gun was still raised, pointing it at Dean, Riley, and Sam but mainly Riley since she was being the biggest loud mouth of them all. "They're liars and they're dangerous." He didn't want her to know the truth. He wanted to protect her from the truth. He didn't understand what was happening but he didn't want to believe that his past was coming back to haunt him, literally. He just wanted to return to the life he was having before Dean, Riley, Sam, and Selena showed their faces in his town.

        Andrea didn't want to hear anymore lies. She wanted the truth. "Something tried to drown me," she revealed to him. She had lost her temper with him slightly, snapping at him. "Chris died on that lake. Dad, look at me." She watched as her father turned his gaze towards her slowly. "Tell me that you... Tell me you didn't kill anyone," she pleaded. While she knew that a spirit was after them, she didn't want to believe that her father had caused this. Sheriff Devins looked away from her, taking heavy breaths as he almost said something but didn't. Andrea stared at him with her jaw dropped slightly. "Oh, my God."

        The truth finally began to come out as Sheriff Devins began to explain what occurred. "Billy and I were at the lake. Peter was the smallest one. We always bullied him, but this time, it got rough." He shifted his eyes back and forth between his daughter and the ground. "We were holding his head under the water. We didn't mean to, but we held him under too long and he drowned." He paused and he looked towards Dean, Sam, and Riley. "We let the body go and it sank," Sheriff Devins revealed, displeasing the three listening hunters. He looked back towards his daughter, frowning and with tears in his eyes. "Oh, Andrea, we were kids. We were so scared. It was a mistake. But, Andrea, to say that I have anything to do with these drownings, with Chris, because of some ghost? It's not rational."

        "All right, listen to me, all of you," Dean said. "We need to get you away from this lake, as far as we can, right now." It's all that they could do at this point. There was no way for them to get rid of Peter.

        Meanwhile, while the conversation was taking place, Lucas was continuing to head towards the lake. As he took several steps onto the dock, he felt arms wrap around him and he was turned to face Selena. Selena was catching her breath, having sprinted to catch up to him in time after she willed herself to break free from her frozen-in-fear state. Just the mere thought of a child dying because of her fear keeping her from helping had caused her to gain some of her sense back. "We mustn't be out here, Lucas," Selena told him gently. "It's not safe. We must go back. Whatever it is you wish to see or get, it'll only cause trouble for us all." Beneath them, she heard the cracking of the boards and both of their faces became horror-struck as they heard the calls of their names. "Close your eyes and hold your breath," Selena whispered to Lucas. The very second he did so, the dock collapsed and the two of them were falling into the water.

        Just moments before the incident had occurred and from afar, Andrea had turned her attention towards the lake as she spotted Lucas stepping foot onto the dock. She released a loud gasp and everyone's attention was towards Lucas, all of them dashing into a mad sprint as they all began to call Lucas's name. As they attempted to get to him in time, they could see through the trees that Selena had gotten to Lucas first. But by the time they all arrived by the lake, they watched as Lucas and Selena were sent falling straight into the water with the collapsed dock. Neither of them resurfaced at all as Andrea, Dean, Riley, and Sam sprinted to where the dock had been, Sheriff Devins freezing where he was when he caught a glimpse of Peter's darkened, evil spirit. Quickly removing their leather jackets, Dean and Sam jumped into the water after Lucas and Selena. Andrea attempted to jump in herself but Riley quickly wrapped her arms around her, preventing her from putting herself in harms way. Dean and Sam drove down into the water multiple times, coming back for air after a while each time. Neither of them could find Lucas or Selena. They both dove down again as Sheriff Devins began to removed his jacket upon his approach towards the lake and he began to wade into the water.

        Meanwhile, deep down within the lake, Selena had her grip firmed around Lucas as Peter dragged them both further down. Knowing that they were running out of air and time, Selena glared down at Peter and raised one of her hands, wrapping some of the water surrounding them around her head and Lucas's head. Selena, then, easily made it where the water inside the orb she made pushed outward, giving herself and Lucas air to breath as they both gasped for it. Lucas stared at Selena with wide terrified eyes but the fear was towards Peter and not towards Selena. Selena kept her hand raised as she focused and if Peter were to do something that would cause her to drop her hand, her focus would not falter and neither would the orb she created.

        Above water, Jake was gently swimming further out as he spoke out loud. "Peter, if you can hear me... Please, Peter, I'm sorry. I'm so, I'm so sorry." He ignored his daughter's screams of protest as he continued, Dean and Sam still diving into the lake nearby. "Peter. Lucas, he's... He's just a little boy. Please, it's not his fault, it's mine. Please, take me." He stopped moving, remaining still where he was. Dean and Sam resurfaced, both of them sending their own protests to Sheriff Devins. "Just let it be over!" Sheriff Devins exclaimed as he waited.

        Down below the surface of the lake, Peter had released his grip on Lucas and he vanished instantly, relocating to where the sheriff was and as a result, he began dragging the sheriff down into the water instead. Lucas and Selena were deep down in the lake by this point, however, and Selena knew that she would exhaust all of her energy if she were to attempt to swim up, this being a risk to her keeping her water orb up. So, she did the only thing she could do. She wrapped her arms around Lucas fully once more, gripping him tightly and suddenly, water began to pressurize beneath them, the water slowly shooting them up. As the stream rose them up, Selena shared a look with both Dean and Sam underwater as she and Lucas went by them, startling both brothers and causing them both to quickly return to the surface of the water. Seconds after Dean and Sam broke the surface of the lake, Lucas and Selena lightly shot out of the water, both landing on the ground by the edge of the lake as Selena landed on her back and Lucas landed on top of her. Selena released her hold on Lucas as Andrea ran over to hug him, crying her heart out.

        Dean and Sam brought themselves to the edge of the lake, climbing out quickly. Riley ran over to Selena and helped her stand up as the brothers quickly approached them. However, the look on Dean's face was anything but pleasant while Sam's was one of shock. Riley pushed Selena behind her protectively as she stood between Dean and Selena once Dean was right in front of them. Dean had his eyes narrowed on Selena, his expression unkind. "What the hell are you?" He pointed towards the lake. "What the hell was that I just saw?" Selena hesitated to speak, remaining behind Riley willingly. Dean stared at her, his expression not faltering in the slightest. He was pissed, pissed that this huge secret had been kept from him. Pissed that he had been tricked. "You're not human," Dean stated. "You're far from it. You're a freak." His voice raised. "This whole time, you were a freak!"

        "I am sorry that I did not tell you," Selena apologized solemnly. "I had not wished for you to know and think little of me like you do now." She didn't like hearing him call her a freak. She didn't like hearing him call her inhuman. She was far from being inhuman like her mother and Juliet's father. She was nothing like most of her mother's side of the family. She had her humanity and she was mostly human. She wasn't a monster that wanted to harm others. She was a human that wanted to protect the people she cared about.

        Dean glared at her, causing Selena to release a whimper. "This entire time, I thought you were this innocent young woman that needed to be protected. But I was wrong. You're just a monster that gets off with pretending." He turned towards the left and paced a bit before looking back towards the sisters, namely Selena. He didn't think anything of Riley possibly having a power. He assumed it was only Selena. "Don't make me ask you again," he said. Selena lowered her head as she stood behind Riley. Riley was fuming at Dean but she wasn't stepping in just yet. Andrea was watching in confusion and fear, holding tightly onto Lucas whom wanted to go over to Selena. Sam was still in shock, not knowing what to say or how to react to anything that was occurring that very moment. Dean approached Riley and Selena again, roughly pushing Riley aside and nearly knocking her over. Dean roughly gripped Selena's arm and looked her dead in the eyes. "What  _are_  you?"

        "I'm human," Selena whimpered out. Dean scoffed, shaking his head in disgust at what he believed to be a lie as he released his hold on her. He walked away from her. "It's true. I am human. Just an immortal one," Selena continued. Dean's steps faltered and he turned to look at her. "An offspring of an Immortal Being and a Human. My power over water comes from my mother. My inability to age comes from my mother. But I am human. I'm not a monster. I. Am. Human." Selena stared at Dean with tears in her eyes. She was very sad but she wasn't allowing it to make her any less civil than she always was. "And not for a second did I lie to you about anything, Dean Winchester. I may have hid what I am but I did not lie." Her voice began to crack as she finished up her little speech. "And I am not a monster. Monsters hurt people and I would never do something like that. I'd rather die than do something so horrid."

        Dean shook his head. "That makes you no less a freak." He didn't say anything more. He was just so angry, so pissed off that something like this was hidden from him. He didn't know what to believe. He didn't know if he could trust her words and know that she meant well or mistrust her and believe that she was trying to kill him, and Sam, this entire time. He had seen some really fucked up shit in his life so he couldn't help but be negative towards the newfound discovery of Selena's true oddity.

        Riley glared at him and spoke up at last. "Don't call her that!" Dean gazed at her, expression unchanging. "If you're gonna call anyone a freak, it should be me. I have a power over an element, too." Dean took a step back, eyeing her warily. "Fire. That's my element. That's why I was acting so strange recently, as I am sure you both noticed. I was uncomfortable. Water makes me uncomfortable," she continued, still glaring at Dean. "So, you can call me whatever the fuck you want. Freak, monster, pyromaniac, lunatic." Her voice darkened. "But don't you dare say anything like that to Selena ever again. She used her power for the well-being of Lucas. Twice. And if for a minute you think that she has been trying to harm you or Sam this entire goddamn time, you are gravely mistaken. If anyone wanted to kill you two, they would've fucking done it by now. But not her, not I. We help people, Dean. We use our abnormal abilities for good." She gave him a look of disgust. "I thought you of all people would accept this, accept that not everyone in this world is entirely normal."

        "You thought wrong," Dean responded. He glared at Riley and Selena both. "Go. If I ever see your faces again, I will kill you." His words hit Selena the hardest, making her strode away quickly with tears streaming down her cheeks unknowingly to everyone but Riley. Dean wanted them dead. Dean hated them. However, Dean was only just pissed off right that moment and he was only just very confused with everything.

        Riley stared at Dean, not making a move to leave just yet. "So, that's it? After the two cases we helped you with, you're done with us because of what we are?" She shook her head, staring at him intensely. "Selena may be different than everyone else and I may be different than everyone else but guess what, Dean Winchester? My sister and I are far more human than you. So, you can take your feelings of hatred and shove them straight up your ass. Only a decent human being could, at least, try to accept all of this after witnessing the good we do. But you are not a decent man. No. You're pathetic." She turned on her heel and began walking away, heading to her car where Selena was awaiting.

        As Riley walked onward, Dean began to feel some regret but he didn't take his words back. He couldn't take them back. The sisters had kept this huge secret from them, the secret that they weren't exactly human. He felt used, he felt like his trust had been betrayed. He felt the emotions any friend would feel towards another friend. He glanced towards Sam and Sam released his sigh, a frown on his face. Dean had no idea what Sam thought of all of this but it couldn't have been any different than what he himself was thinking. He was about to ask Sam what he wanted to do about the sisters when Lucas broke free from his mother's grasp, sprinting in the direction that Riley and Selena went. "Lucas!" Dean exclaimed. Instinctively, he ran after him.

        Lucas didn't stop sprinting until he crashed into Selena's legs, Dean stopping a few feet short from them. Riley was standing near Selena, eyeing Dean cautiously as she took a step closer to Selena; she was ready to be provoked into killing him because she honestly didn't care if she liked him or not by this point. Dean watched warily as Selena turned and crouched, Dean's hard gaze softening as he noticed the tears that were streaming down Selena's face. Monsters didn't cry. What the hell had he done...? He was a goddamn moron. He continued to watch as Lucas wrapped his arms around Selena and Selena doing the same to him in return. Dean listened silently to Selena's passing words. "You do not have to be afraid anymore. You shall be safe from now on. You will not have to deal with any of this ever again, Lucas. As I had told you, I would not allow anything to happen to you or your mother, even if it meant the cost of my friendship with the people I care for."

        "...Not a freak," Lucas said, speaking for the first time. Selena's eyes widened in surprise as she pulled out of the hug she was giving him. She stared down at him in awe, her eyes wet from her tears but they were shining with little happiness. Lucas was frowning as he stared back at her. "You're my friend," he continued. Selena had saved his mother's life and his own. He didn't care about her powers. She had used them to save what was left of his family. He didn't understand the entirety of the situation that occurred but he did know that Selena was his friend. Selena half-smiled at him and she placed a kiss upon his forehead, whispering a  _thank you_  and  _goodbye_  to him before she stood up and continued on her way to the car, Riley following behind her. As Lucas watched the two of them leave while his mother and Sam slowly approached where he was, Dean remained standing right where he was as he watched the sisters go with pain and regret in his eyes...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trivia:
> 
> 1) The ending scene. I apologize if Dean seems out of character and if Sam not saying anything seems out of character for him. I figured that no matter what, Dean wouldn't take the news of the sisters' powers in a good way and that Sam would be surprised by it all. And from the beginning, I knew that this had to occur before Sam's power showed itself because I wanted Dean's reaction to be very negative and not, like, slightly negative. If you didn't like the scene, I am sorry but whatever happens, happens. The Winchester brothers now know that Selena is an Immortal Being and that she controls water (they'll learn the rest eventually). Additionally, the Winchester brothers know of Riley's pyrokinesis but have yet actually witnessed it and they do not know if she is entirely human or not (while all of us know that she is entirely human but just with powers). In the next chapter, I will be following Phantom Traveler and I will say this: amends will be made and a very slow acceptance towards the powers will begin. Again, if you didn't like the ending, don't make it stop you from reading further. We've all read stories that do something we don't like that makes us wanna stop reading but we make ourselves continue and it makes us love it again.
> 
> 2) How'd you like that the chapter started off with the Winchesters instead of the sisters? I needed a break from the same routine so I broke it and wrote from the Winchesters point of view of things. By the way, I need to apologize for the previous chapter and perhaps for any confusion in this chapter. I do tend to make it go from one conversation and then backtrack to another conversation that took place during the one that had been written first. I try to give a warning at the beginning to let you know that things are being backtracked but I've heard that it's still confusing. I'll be more careful with that next time, hopefully. You didn't have to deal with that this time around, not really.
> 
> 3) From what I've seen on a Supernatural wikia, there was no date listed for this episode (and it is the same for a lot of future episodes). After checking to see if there was a date for the next (and there was), I made up my own date for this episode 'cause why not. I won't be doing this every single time, though. Some will just be listed as Unknown Date, 2005/2006. Probably.
> 
> 4) The drawing that Selena created actually exists. The drawing is fanart for my Inuyasha fanfiction, Falling For A Half Demon: The Remake. The female drawn is Kaori, my original character of that fanfic, and the male drawn is quite obviously Inuyasha. You can find the picture on my Quotev account, via Chapter 21 of said fanfic. I did not create it myself.
> 
> 5) You've seen more to Selena than what has ever been shown of her. You've seen her intelligent side mainly but you had a tiny glimpse of the anger within her in chapter one. And now, you've seen her childish side, more of her sisterly side, a tiny bit of her motherly side, more of her anxious side, and her sensitive side. You'll be seeing all of these parts of her throughout the story, some more than others.


	8. Phantom Traveler

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Believing that he and his older brother need all the help they can get with dealing with a demon, Sam Winchester contacts the Grant-Piers half-siblings. Despite some tension between the two sets of siblings, they work together for a third time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Original and Unoriginal Content/Dialogue, Errors of Any Kind, Long Chapter Ahead As Usual, Unoriginal Not-So-Important Character(s) Introduction(s), Difficulty With Some Descriptions of Character Appearances/Scenery, Possibility of Incorrect Information, Possibility of Out-of-Character Moments, Low Possibility of Unrealistic Actions or Reactions, High Possibility of Realistic Actions or Reactions, Violence, Slight Gore (I Guess), Scenes From Episode Are Missing Like Usual, Changes Were Made to Episode (Placement of Buildings or Objects May Be Different to Better Fit Within Chapter, Etc)
> 
> In the nearish future, I'm hoping it's the near future anyways, Brynn (a friend of mine) and myself will be collaborating for a future chapter together. Actually, it'll be two chapters and one version will be placed into her fanfiction while the other version will be placed into mine. Hopefully, the two of us can pull it off when we get to that point. And hopefully, we do not change our minds by then. The concept of the two chapters is very intriguing, and the same in plot, and I think everyone will enjoy it, despite how short it is in length (scene wise). On a different topic, amends will be made within this chapter and those amends will clearly be between Dean and Selena. Lastly, Sam's reaction at the end of the previous chapter will be explained within the first scene, probably; I make these author's notes before I make my chapters.
> 
> Nina Dobrev as Selena Grant  
> Hayden Panettiere as Riley Piers

_This is the cloud that swallow trust_  
_This is the black that uncolors us_  
_This is the face that you hide from_  
_This is the mask that comes undone_

_(Some Kind of Monster : Metallica)_

* * *

  **~(Approximately) Between December 2nd and December 5th, Pennsylvania~**

        Dean and Sam Winchester were in full research mode, their motel room set up like some sort of home base. Articles and images were taped onto the walls, some strewn across both beds. Never before had the brothers encountered a demon that would possess someone just to make them crash a plane and that kind of frightened them both because they didn't have their father there to help them through this one. This was something practically new to them and they hated it, but they'd have to make due with what they had and that was each other plus their research, for the time being. Hopefully, they could manage okay.

        Sam glanced away from his laptop, turning his attention towards Dean momentarily. Dean was sitting on one of the beds covered in articles, reading from an open book that was stacked on top of several other books, on the opposite bed than the one he was sitting on. Sam lightly bit his tongue as he looked away from Dean, looking back towards his laptop. He didn't continue with his laptop research just yet, however, and he picked up a phone that was laying beside the laptop. Displayed on the screen when he turned it on was Selena Grant's contact information and he glanced back towards Dean. The two of them hadn't seen the Grant-Piers sisters for about two weeks since the incident that occurred between Dean, Riley Piers, and Selena. While Dean had been quite indifferent towards the fact that the sisters were different than most human beings, Sam had ended up feeling the opposite of what Dean was feeling; Sam understood why the sisters had kept it secret and he didn't blame them for it, and while it had greatly shocked him, he found the fact intriguing and very helpful.

        As Sam placed the phone back down on the table, Dean glanced up from his book to look at him for a moment before he placed his gaze on the wall across from him. He frowned as he began to recall what he had said to Selena. He couldn't get her face out of his head, her tears that streamed down her face. He regretted it so much, hated that he reacted in such a horrible way, but he had felt that his trust had been betrayed, felt that he had only been used and he was still feeling this way. But with each passing day, the guilt grew stronger as his hate grew weaker; he wasn't as mad as he had been when he found out, though he was still quite mad about it, and that just made him feel even worse about what he had done. He was still a bit indifferent towards both sisters, despite his guilt, and he was getting a bit pissed off with himself for having these mixed emotions of a teenage female, his feelings towards the sisters being all over the damn place. He wished these emotions wouldn't stir around so much.

        "So," Sam spoke up, his attention on his laptop. Dean broke out of his thoughts and he looked back down at his book, listening in on what Sam was saying. "Every religion in every world culture has the concept of demons and demonic possession, right? I mean Christian, Native American, Hindu, you name it." The beliefs were different from each other, yet they weren't at the same time. And Sam believed he finally figured out exactly what kind of demon they were dealing with, after loads and loads of research on his laptop after his short break earlier.

        Dean looked away from the book laying in front of him, gazing towards Sam. "Yeah, but none of them describe anything like this." 'Least, it didn't seem like any of them described what was going on.

        Sam pointed at nothing in particular as he spoke again, his attention temporarily on Dean. "Well, that's not exactly true." He looked back towards his laptop. "You see, according to Japanese beliefs, certain demons are behind certain disasters, both natural and man-made." He looked back towards Dean as he finished explaining. "One causes earthquakes, another causes disease." So, whatever kind of demon this was, it certainly liked causing crashes that killed a lot of people; it liked creating disasters and murdering large numbers of people.

        "And this one causes plane crashes?" Dean questioned. Sam only shrugged in response, not entirely sure but he was almost positive. Dean looked away from him and slightly shook his head. He blew out a breath as he removed himself from the bed. "Alright. So, what? We have a demon that's evolved with the times and found a way to ratchet up the body count?" he questioned Sam as he slowly approached him, stopping just a few steps away from his little brother.

        Sam looked away from Dean, speaking a bit softer than he had been. "Yeah. You know, who knows how many planes it's brought down before this one." Dean stared at Sam for a moment before he snorted and turned away from him, taking a few steps forward. "What?" Sam asked him, looking back towards him.

        Dean scratched the back of his head with his right hand before turning towards Sam again, gesturing with the same hand. "I don't know, man. This isn't our normal gig. I mean, demons, they don't want anything, just death and destruction for its own sake. This is big." He raised his right hand, again, and he scratched his head once more. "And I wish Dad was here." It was truly amazing how he could admit that he would like for their dad to be there to help them, but he couldn't even admit that he regretted some decisions he had made. And he could hardly even admit the latter to himself.

        Sam answered after a second, still speaking softly. "Yeah. Me too." He glanced towards his phone again and he hesitated for a moment, but only just a moment. "Dean," he began, looking back over to his brother. Dean stared at him questionably. "I've been thinking. Since..." Sam sighed. "Since Riley and Selena have dealt with demons before," he paused as he noticed Dean making a face and he (Sam) watched as he looked away, "Maybe they can help us with this. They're more experienced with demons than we are. Demons this advanced, anyways." He knew that Riley and Selena could help them, and he knew that they would help out despite what happened because they were good people. Plus, he kind of missed them and he wished to speak of certain matters with them.

        "No," Dean responded sternly as he looked anywhere but towards Sam again. "We don't need their help, Sam. We never did. We should remain clear of them and their capabilities." He didn't want to deal with his anger and his guilt anymore, but he definitely didn't want to deal with either emotion with those two around. That would just make the emotions more overbearing than they already were. And like hell would he admit that he was wrong to quickly judge the sisters, namely Selena, when their oddity had shown its unnatural head.

        Sam looked down at his hands as he revealed some important information to Dean, information that would surely piss him off or upset him greatly. "It'll be hard for us to do that because I've already invited them." Dean quickly spun to look at Sam, angry and horrified by this decision that was made without his consent. Sam looked up, staring at Dean and he shrugged nonchalantly. "I figured you'd be against the idea. So, I sent a text to Selena earlier." He paused for a second before continuing. "After we found the signs of sulfur." Sam  _really_  had known that Dean and himself were going to need all the help they could get, and asking the sisters for help seemed like the best option they had. He felt that this would be a good thing, the four of them working together again because then, Dean could finally grow a pair and admit that he was wrong for what he did. That and they could all get rid of the demon.

        Dean glared at Sam, shaking his head. His tone was full of anger, towards Sam's decision and towards what had happened. And maybe even angry at himself. "Gee, Sam. Did you even plan on telling me this before they got here?" He scoffed, still shaking his head as he averted his gaze from Sam. "We can't trust them, Sammy. They lied to us. They may had even been planning to kill us before they were found out." Now, he just sounded freaking paranoid. Or sounded like he was just making excuses to avoid having to admit he was wrong to say such hurtful things to Selena.

        Sam shook his head. "Dean, stop lying to yourself." Dean looked back at him, glaring. Sam gave him a look. "Dean, you haven't been able to look me in the eye whenever I mention them." Dean looked away slightly, proving Sam's point. "And you get this really angsty look when Selena's mentioned." Just seconds after he mentioned it, Dean made exactly the face that Sam had been speaking of. Sam gestured towards him as Dean looked back at Sam. "See? You regret what you said to her." Sam leaned against his chair, still staring at Dean. "Stop being stubborn about it. Who cares if they kept secrets from us? They weren't hurting anyone and they weren't planning on it either." Sam looked back towards his laptop, shaking his head. "They'll be here shortly. They weren't too far away," he finished. After a moment, he quickly added, "And it's Sam," because he really disliked the nickname.

        Dean watched Sam silently for a moment before he spoke up. "How come you didn't have any doubts about them, too?" he questioned. Sam glanced at him and Dean continued. "They both have powers. _Supposedly_ since Riley never really...showed hers but they both have powers." He waved his hand around a bit. "It isn't natural but you're so cool about it. Why?" How could Sam so easily accept it while he couldn't? He just didn't understand. He thought he'd be feeling the same way towards the sisters but instead, Sam was eager to get their help with another case.

        Sam stared at him like he was missing the complete obvious. There was a hint of anger and annoyance in his tone as he spoke to Dean. "I'm more open to the possibility that there are some people out there who are unnaturally gifted. You should be, too." Sam shrugged. "I mean, you seemed perfectly fine with Lucas having a psychic connection with a spirit and yet, you freaked out with Selena having a power over an element, which she used to  _save_  Lucas. You had acted as though she had tried to drown him herself. She means well. You should apologize to her when she gets here." Sam looked away from Dean as Dean said nothing in response. Dean knew that Sam was right but it didn't help that he was still kind of mad about everything.

        Just as Sam had said, the sisters arrived outside their motel room after a short period of time, Sam having text Selena the details. Upon their entry into the room, Riley immediately sneered at Dean as she moved to be on the opposite side of the room from him, leaning against the wall and Selena looked at Dean with a very vacant expression, much like she always had before the two of them had bonded within the previous case. Dean awkwardly nodded towards both sisters in response and he took several steps back when Selena walked past him to get to Sam's laptop. Dean, following Riley's lead, leaned against a wall himself but his gaze was towards Sam and Selena as he watched the two quietly discuss what the case was about. As he watched them, Dean was surprised to find himself feeling only one emotion and it was guilt, not hatred. Just seeing Selena sitting there, her being entirely herself was enough to make his anger die down completely. He was going to apologize to her the first chance he got but he preferred for it to happen away from Riley and Sam. Although, he sort of needed to apologize to Riley as well but that was likely to not go very well, considering she was giving him death stares at the moment.

        Hearing Selena speak broke Dean out of his thoughts and he shifted slightly against the wall, turning his eyesight elsewhere as he listened to her. "We will most certainly help you both with exorcising this demon. However, it will not be easy. Demons are hard to locate up until it's already taken over someone," Selena said. "And even then, there is a chance of the innocent dying while the demon is being banished from their body. It has happened on several occasions, during a few cases Riley and I have done alone. The demons had been very displeased with being sent back to Hell so they, well, I am sure you understand where I am getting at." Selena didn't wish to explain the gruesome details.

        Sam released a sigh. "Great," he sarcastically remarked. He wasn't looking forward to the day where they couldn't save someone that they could've saved. Not that he cared much about what happened to anyone outside his family, apart from Riley and Selena; he had more important matters to worry about, he can regret his mostly uncaringness later down the road. Additionally, he didn't like that it was taking a long time for Dean and himself to find their dad or even the thing that killed Jess. He ran a hand through his hair as he looked over at Selena, looking away from the laptop. Feeling that an awkward silence would fill the air, he decided that he'd be the one to address a few matters. "So, um, I think it would be best if we spoke of the elephant in the room," he stated slowly, looking away from Selena to eye Dean and Riley.

        Riley rolled her eyes as she pushed herself from the wall, crossing her arms. "Why am I not surprised? 'Course you'd want to resolve the situation. Sam, the problem fixer." She looked at him in annoyance. "Should I be grateful? 'Cause I'm not." She looked towards Dean, giving him another death stare that almost made him flinch. "I will not forgive you for what you did. Ever. You're lucky enough that I haven't fried you to a crisp already." Affection towards him be damned. She was still pissed at what he said to Selena. No amount of affection towards Dean would had prevented that. She was protective of her innocent minded little half-sister and most certainly would always put her before any guy.

        Dean grimaced. "Yeah, lucky me." He eyed Riley, wondering what she'd do in response. Riley smirked at him and she held up her hand, a white flaming orb suddenly forming in it. Dean wasn't expecting it so he jumped slightly while Sam stared at the flame in awe. Riley balled her hand into a fist, destroying the orb and she went back to leaning against the wall, looking all smug. Dean gazed away from her as he made a face when realizing that she only did that to test him. He hadn't responded with negative words, at least, but he had responded with startlement and that probably made Riley think that he feared her. But he didn't fear her and Selena, not exactly. He kind of feared the  _thought_  of them having powers, in a way. Well, not really fear but it was more like it made him really wary of them.

        "That's, uh," Sam started, unsure what to say. He struggled to get words out. "You weren't kidding when you said... Wow." He placed his hands to his face as he glanced between Riley and Selena. His eyes ended on Riley and he removed his hands from his face after a moment. "Is that your only...ability? Uh, can you do more?" He was fascinated with this discovery and he really wanted to know more. Furthermore, it was a nice short distraction from the case at hand. And perhaps these abilities could be used to their advantage.

        Riley stared at him for a moment, wondering if she should be truthful or not. Eventually, she decided against lying to avoid any future conflicts with these two brothers. "No, but I'd rather not tell you what my other ability is. All you need to know is that I get that ability from my mother while I've got my pyrokinesis from my father." She gestured towards Sam. "And it looks like you're dying to know something else about me, and I'm almost certain I know what it is. I'm entirely human, Sam." She looked towards Dean, a frown on her face. "Completely  _human_  but with two special abilities." With her last sentence directed towards Dean, she was trying to tell him that since she was human, she had feelings that could be hurt. Just like Selena's feelings had been hurt because she was mostly human.

        Sam nodded, blushing from embarrassment because he had actually wanted to know if she was human or not. "I see." He looked towards Selena. "And you're, um..." He tried to recall what she had said. "...Half Human, Half Immortal?" he questioned, taking a guess. He had been too shocked to comprehend most of what she had said when he learnt she was different in more ways than one. He was hoping that he was close to being correct, at least.

        Selena tilted her head sideways. "I am called an Immortal Human, something that my mother often referred myself as whilst she referred to herself as an Immortal Being. I am mainly human, partially immortal. My mother's husband, and mate, and my second half-sister are Immortal Beings like my mother. And from what Riley told you, you know that our shared father was human." She smiled kindly at Sam, her blank expression gone. "Would you like for me to explain what my kind is exactly?" Sam nodded, eager to learn more of the species he never heard of. Selena glanced towards Dean, her head still tilted and her smile still on her face as she waited for Dean's response, which was a short nod when he noticed that she was looking at him. Selena looked between Dean and Sam as she spoke, speaking calmly and appearing entirely unfazed by the events of two weeks prior. "Immortal Beings do not need to eat, they cannot sleep, and they do not need to breathe but prefer to do these things, minus the sleeping. I am the opposite because of my humanity, meaning I must eat, sleep, and breathe like any human being. And like humans, both myself and my Immortal Being family members have our...private matters to tend to. Despite Immortal Beings being unable to age or change in any sort of way, the females are able to become pregnant like any average female human. On the unable to age matter, no Immortal Being is able to age past fifty physically and I myself have come to the point where I should stop aging, meaning I will be remaining in my twenties until I die." She paused for a moment, wondering if anyone wanted to speak up but no one did and both brothers looked confused by her last sentence. She explained. "Immortal Beings cannot die from what I am aware of, or they are very near impossible to kill, but I  _can_  because of my being mainly human. I cannot survive extremely terrible wounds while my mother's side of the family can. Additionally, it is very rare for Immortal Beings to gain a power and from what I'm aware of, only myself, my second half-sister, my mother, and I believe my mother's  _former_  lover are the only ones whom have gotten an elemental power." She had given them a lot of information to process but that wasn't everything.

        Dean approached Sam and Selena, his eyes on Selena. He couldn't help but find this information intriguing despite everything he had felt about the thought of certain people having powers; it was going to be very hard for him to accept the fact but he wasn't all that angry about it anymore. And now, he kind of knew why Selena had been stuck indoors for thirteen years of her life. Somewhat. "Wait, you mentioned something about a mate earlier," he stated as Selena looked towards him. "Your kind takes mates? How exactly does that happen? Are you...mated?" Sam gave him a look. Dean gave him the same look back. "You were wondering about it, too, so don't give me that look." He looked back at Selena, slightly averting his eyes to avoid her gaze. "...Well?" He wanted to know if she was mated because if she was, he'd love to track the man down and kill him for not being by her side.

        Selena hummed before answering. "Mating for my kind is like the mating between wolves, so to speak." She let out a giggle at the look on Dean and Sam's faces. "There isn't much likeness, really. Wolves mate through intercourse, least that is what I wish to believe, while my kind mate through biting the neck at the end of intercourse. Because of Riley, you both should still be aware of my innocence," she stated, causing Dean and Sam to look away from her awkwardly. She continued speaking. "With mating with someone, the bond remains unbreakable and remains so even through death. Lastly, normally Immortal Beings mate with one another like my mother and her husband, but my mother wasn't very faithful and I was the result of an affair she had with my human father. I suppose if an Immortal Being were to mate with a human, only the Immortal Being would be leaving a mark that forms the bond and I assume that bond will be everlasting still. I can't say what would happen if one were to mate with another creature, but I assume the mating would remain the same way or be slightly altered."

        Dean rubbed his face. "Man... And here I thought our family was screwed up," he mumbled. This was a lot of information to take in about Selena and her kind. He was trying to have an open mind about all of this but damn, that was too much. Far more than he had thought he'd hear. No way in hell would he be able to remember all of that. It was bad enough that he had to get use to the idea of Riley and Selena having powers. He never imagined that this kind of species would exist and he never had imagined that there would be humans whom developed an unnatural ability. Completely off topic, he was kind of wondering why Selena was speaking to him despite what he did. Perhaps she was very forgiving and she just naturally was nice no matter what occurred to her. "So, uh," Dean started. "With what you told me about being stuck at home for thirteen years, why was that?" He had kind of hoped that she had lied about all that, but it looks like she did not and that just made him feel worse.

        "Simple. My mother doesn't like humans and she wished for me to grow to hate them as well by telling me false stories of them while training me to use my powers once they developed," Selena answered immediately. "She had also wished to control my life. But that was all over once I told her of my becoming a hunter with Riley. She was very civil, more so than usual, but she was very negative, more so than usual. And she had told me to never come back." She was so open about her life, willing to explain absolutely everything. She did not care if it were meant to be private or not. She didn't want to hide anything from Dean and Sam anymore. She didn't want anymore walls between them. "And I did not until sometime before our Wendigo case together. Riley and I had gone to see my half-sister, Juliet, and I spoke with her for quite some time before we left." She didn't see the point in keeping Juliet's name from them by this point. They'd likely meet her in the future, if Juliet kept her promise of attempting to visit Riley and herself.

        Sam's eyes widened slightly. "You said powers. You have more than one like Riley?" The fact that she mentioned having multiple powers had greatly caught his attention. And while he had listened to everything that Selena had told them, this fact was just the only thing that stood out the most to him. She had several powers. Several. Maybe the same as Riley or more. Selena was beginning to be more and more helpful in his eyes. Maybe she and Riley would be more likely to use their abilities, now that he and Dean knew about them. They could help them find John Winchester faster.

        "I have multiple," Selena answered. She didn't ignore that the look on Dean's face became one of dread but she chose not to address it. She just continued on speaking, revealing each and every one of her abilities unlike Riley had. "I have power over a total of five elements, them being electricity, energy, ice, metal, and water, the latter being what you both have seen already. Furthermore, I have the ability of telekinesis and I used it to open the bathroom door of the Barr household so that I could reach Andrea before she drowned." She gestured to Sam. "I had even used it when the Wendigo had gone after you, Sam. I had thrown it into the wall to buy us some time to get away from it and I am sure you noticed this occur but said nothing of it. Lastly, if Dean had not gotten to us in time, Riley most certainly would had made her ability known before the Wendigo could do any harm to anyone. She'd never allow someone to die just to keep her power hidden, no matter what the results would be afterwards, just like myself." She failed to mention that the only power she used often was her telekinesis, cause she couldn't do much with her other abilities.

        Sam nodded as he acknowledged what Selena said. He looked over towards Dean as Dean released a sigh. "That's... That's just fantastic," Dean remarked, his tone not sarcastic but his tone not serious either as he rubbed his face with both hands. He was in between. Selena was making this harder for him than it already was. It was better when he thought she only had one ability, not freaking six in technicality. Getting use to all of this was going to be harder than he thought it would be, especially with the sisters appearing before them every few weeks. How can he get use to the idea of both sisters having powers if he wasn't constantly around them? The sound of his phone ringing pulled him out of his thoughts and made him drop his hands to his sides. "Hello? Oh, hi, Jerry." Dean listened to the information Jerry wanted to tell him and his expression became surprised. "Wha...? Jerry, I'm sorry. What happened? ...Where'd this happen? ...I'll try to ignore the irony in that. Nothing. Jerry, hang in there, all right? We'll catch up with you soon." He closed his cellphone, tilted his head ever so slightly as he gave Sam a look.

        "Another crash?" Sam guessed as he stared at Dean.

        Dean nodded. "Yeah. Let's go." He looked between Riley and Selena as he began making his way to the door. "We're heading to Nazareth so follow us there. Or you can ride with us. Take your pick." With that, he left the motel room with many things on his mind. How were they going to pin down (locate) this demon? How were they going to get rid of it without causing casualties? Would any of them get hurt in the process? Would the powers of Riley and Selena help at all during this case? Would he ever get the chance to apologize to Selena? He didn't know the answer to any of these questions that went on in a loop within his head...

**~(Approximately) Between December 2nd and December 5th, Pennsylvania~**

        After searching the wreck in Nazareth, the four hunters eventually found themselves standing within an office. The office belonged to Jerry Panowski, a balding middle-aged man that had called Dean for help when he couldn't get ahold of John Winchester. Jerry had met Dean and John in the past when the two of them helped Jerry with a poltergeist problem, Jerry meeting Sam for the first time upon the arrival of both brothers at the beginning of the current case. When the four hunters had arrived at the office, Jerry was quickly introduced to the half-sisters before he was put to work with identifying the substance that the four hunters had gathered at the site of the plane wreck.

        Jerry was looking through a microscope, examining the newly collected substance that had been retrieved from the crash site of the plane. Sitting in a chair behind Jerry's desk, behind Jerry himself as well, was Sam and he was lightly biting his left thumb nail as he waited for information. Standing behind Sam was Selena and as she silently waited, she grew bored and began playing with Sam's hair, causing Sam to crack a smile as he moved his hand from his mouth. Leaning against the desk in front of the two of them was Riley and she was staring at Dean with a glare, per usual. "...Does personal space mean anything to you, Winchester?" Riley suddenly questioned Dean, breaking the silence. Dean was standing directly behind Jerry, his arms crossed as he looked over Jerry's shoulder. "Don't look like it from my point of view."

        Dean glanced towards Riley and without saying a word to her, he took a step back from Jerry. He didn't want to argue with her. Arguing with her was beginning to get old, anyways. Once Riley was cooled down and not ready to rip off his head, Dean would make amends with her and he would hope it would stick this time around unlike the last time. Because, quite honestly, he still found her very attractive despite the newfound information he had learnt about her and he wanted to be friends with her, if not more and hopefully not less like it currently was. Dean looked back at Jerry as Jerry stood up. "Sulfur?" he questioned. Jerry nodded, not saying anything. "Well, that's great," he remarked sarcastically as he turned towards Riley, Sam, and Selena. He nearly cracked a smile when he spotted Selena messing with Sam's hair. "Alright, that's two plane crashes involving Chuck Lambert. This demon sounds like it was after him," Dean concluded.

        "With all due respect to Chuck, if that's the case, that would be the good news," Sam said, looking at Dean and Jerry.

        Riley removed herself from the desk as she turned to face Sam and Selena. She was displeased with hearing this. "I suppose you'll be informing us of the bad news now?" she asked, rocking on her heels as she waited impatiently. She wasn't rather happy with having to work with the Winchesters again because of obvious reasons and she only came to help when Selena insisted, and when Selena had stated she'd go without her if she refused.

        "Chuck's plane went down exactly forty minutes into the flight. So did flight twenty-four eighty-five," Sam revealed, messing with a pen on the desk. His smile had vanished when he began speaking to everyone but it returned when Selena began messing with his hair in a sillier fashion. Even with the case being tough and professional right that moment, Selena was able to make him smile and she, unknowingly, had caused Dean and Riley to half-smile. Sam tilted his head back to look at Selena and he reached to grab some of her hair, pulling some of it underneath her nose to give her a hair mustache. Doing so caused Selena to smile back at him.

        "Forty minutes? What does that mean?" Jerry questioned.

        With Sam being busy with playing silly alongside Selena, Dean answered Jerry's question as he looked towards him. "It's biblical numerology. You know, Noah's ark, it rained for forty days. The number means death." Looking back at Sam and Selena, he snapped his fingers. He hadn't wanted to break up the little moment between the two but they needed to focus. "Sam, Selena. Sorry but now isn't the time for acting silly." He felt a little bad when Selena pouted but pushed that aside as Sam straightened back up in the chair.

        Sam cleared his throat as he began to focus on the case again, his eyes on the computer that was on the desk. "So, I went back and there have been six plane crashes over the last decade that all went down exactly forty minutes in."

        Selena spoke up next, her focus on the case as she finally lowered her hands from Sam's hair. "And according to the information we found, there had been no survivors." She gestured aimlessly with her hands, wanting some sort of use for them. "Well, no survivors up until flight twenty-four eighty-five. I am uncertain why this has occurred but I would like to think that these survivors are quite, uh, lucky in a sense." Lucky that they hadn't died, unlucky that they had been involved in the crash.

        Dean thought back to what the EVP said on the cockpit recorder that he and Sam heard. " _No survivors_ ," he mumbled. Sam and Selena stared at him as Riley turned to stare at him. He began thinking a bit more and quickly came to a sudden realization. "It's going after all the survivors. It's trying to finish the job." And they had no idea who it was going to go after next...

**~(Approximately) Between December 2nd and December 5th, Pennsylvania~**

        The Impala was being driven down the darkened road by Dean, only the headlights lighting up the way within the darkness of the mid-afternoon sky. Beside him in the passenger's seat was Sam, Sam holding his phone to his right ear as he listened to whom he called. In the backseat were Riley and Selena, Riley looking boredly up at the car ceiling while Selena was napping to her right. Only Sam was being the very productive one, calling each survivor one by one to see which ones were getting on a flight soon. But then again, Dean was being semi-productive via his driving whilst Riley and Selena were doing nothing productive whatsoever, which was fine because what more could they do in that moment anyways? Gently playing in the background within the Impala was  _Working Man_  by  _Rush_.

        "Really?" Sam questioned the person on the phone. "Well, thank you for taking our survey. And if you do plan to fly, please don't forget your friends at United Britannia Airlines. Thanks." He immediately hung up the phone, flipping it shut and putting it away for the time being. "Alright, that takes care of Blaine Sanderson and Dennis Holloway. They're not flying anytime soon." He picked up some paper that laid in his lap and he pressed it against the dash, writing on it. He was marking out their names, the names of those whom weren't planning on flying again.

        "So, our only wildcard is the flight attendant Amanda Walker," Dean stated matter of factly. Amanda was the only one that was going to be boarding another plane and that plane would have the demon aboard it.

        "Right," Sam answered. He continued staring at the paper in front of him, reading off of it. "Her sister, Karen, said her flight leaves Indianapolis at eight pm. It's her first night back on the job."

        "Well, that's just fucking awesome," Riley remarked sarcastically. She looked away from the ceiling of the car and leaned forward in her seat, moving to be leaning in between Dean's seat and Sam's seat. She hadn't been wearing a seatbelt and she honestly didn't care for once about her safety as she sat in the middle of the backseat. "That's a five hour drive, goddamn it! There's no way in hell we'll make it there in time!" She didn't bother lowering her tone but she somehow managed to not awaken Selena.

        Dean quickly glanced towards the backseat to glare at Riley before he looked back at the road. "No one likes a Debby Downer," he told her. "Sam, call Amanda's cellphone again," he instructed. "See if we can head her off at the pass." They weren't going to lose another innocent to this demon again. They have to make it. They had to save her.

        "I already left her three voice messages," Sam informed Dean a little too loudly. He rested his right elbow against the inner door on his side of the car, laying his head in his hand. He threw down the paper, pen, and even the phone he had recently used. "She must have turned her cellphone off." He was a tad frustrated with these events. He lowered his arm from the inner door as he let out a loud sigh, leaning further back into his seat as he stared at the road ahead. "God, we're never gonna make it." While he sounded panicky, he didn't exactly look panicky. All he had ever really cared about was finding his dad and finding the being that killed Jess but by this point, he was beginning to care about the people that could potentially be murdered by the creatures Dean, Riley, Selena, and himself hunted. He was having a rather slow change of heart about matters.

        "No shit," Riley remarked as she leaned back into her seat. "This is just a waste of time." She had doubts that they'd be able to save the young woman and because of this, she was beginning to think of what the four of them would do in order to locate the demon. Wait for the other survivors to finally board a plane by stalking them for days or even months? Do some sort of summoning ritual, which wouldn't work because they don't have the name of this demon? They weren't going to be able to solve this problem. The demon was going to be free to continue running a muck.

        "We'll make it," Dean retorted as he switched gears, stepping down harder on the gas pedal. The Impala tore down the highway at a great speed, advancing faster to reach their destination on time. Dean was going to make sure they made it there on time. They couldn't lose sight of this demon and they couldn't allow more innocent people to die. It was now or never and he was choosing the former over the latter.

        Riley clenched onto her seat. "You are insane, Winchester!" She released a growl when she heard Dean let out a chuckle and she could tell that he was smirking by the corner of his lips. "I swear to God, if we crash, I'm going to kill you!" On the bright side, Selena was still asleep and she'd likely be in a slight, or maybe more than slight, panic if she were awake and witnessing Dean's not so safe driving. Would be a miracle if she even woke up, considering the higher chance of a crash now. Not that Riley was scared of crashing, but more on the lines of fearing for her younger sister's sanity if she were to awaken soon.

        With just about thirty minutes to spare, Dean pulled the car into the airport parking lot. The Impala tore around a corner, tires letting out a loud squeal as Dean swung the car around violently to enter the nearest vacant parking space. He barely managed to park within the yellow lines, not that it mattered with the limited time they had. The Impala screeched to a complete stop and the ignition was, then, shut off by Dean. As Dean and Sam exited the car, Riley shook Selena awake before the two of them exited the vehicle as well. Upon the sisters exiting the car, Selena rubbed her eyes as Riley stared questionably at Dean and Sam when Dean opened up the trunk of the Impala and began tossing in multiple weapons, such as several knives, a gun, and few other various weapon types. Closing the trunk of the car, Dean stared at everyone before throwing his hands up in the air. "I feel naked," he told them before he began heading for the entrance.

        "If only," Riley remarked quietly. She wouldn't mind seeing a nude Dean. Sam looked over at her, looking both amused and surprised but Riley wasn't embarrassed about being overheard. She winked at Sam. "Hey, I may hate him but even I gotta admit that he is very handsome." She gestured to Sam. "You're not bad yourself, Sam." She snapped her fingers and pointed in the direction Dean went. "No more wasting time. We got a demon to exorcise." She took off in a light jog after Dean, a smirk on her face. Sam and Selena followed behind her at the same pace.

        Rushing into the airport, the four hunters made a dash towards the Departure board. Sam was the first one to spot the schedule of the plane that they were trying to get to. "Right there," he said as he pointed towards the Departure board further to the left. "They're boarding in thirty minutes." The four of them made it there just in time. Now, they just needed to get Amanda to remain on the ground.

        "How are we going to prevent Amanda from boarding?" Selena questioned as she let out a yawn. Too often than not, she would find herself falling asleep in a car and she was kind of thankful for that because it took her away from her anxiety from being within a vehicle. However, this time around, she hated that she hadn't been awake to give out some advice or help. She had quickly been informed of the situation while she and Sam jogged after Dean and Riley, and even then, she wasn't sure if she had learnt all the information that she needed to know. "Must we convince her in some way?" she asked, rubbing her arm.

        "We still have some cards to play," Dean panted out. He was still kind of catching his breath from the jogging. "We need to find a phone." He took several steps forward, going underneath the Departure board and he looked both ways, immediately light jogging to the left towards the courtesy phone he spotted nearby. Riley, Sam, and Selena followed behind him, moving to stand all around him as he picked up the phone. Sam stood behind Dean, Selena stood to Dean's left, and Riley stood in front of Dean. "Hi. Gate thirteen," Dean said into the phone, responding to the female speaking to him. "I'm trying to contact an Amanda Walker. She's a flight attendant on Flight, um," Dean glances towards Selena whom mouths and signals the answer to him, "Flight four-two-four." Dean nodded a thank you to Selena before looking away from her.

        Riley frowned. "I'm right here, you know. I could've helped you." She was standing right in front of his face but instead, Dean had glanced towards Selena whom was still standing to his left. Riley shook her head and looked around the airport, missing Dean's confused look that he had sent her way. She was going back and forth with him, being nice and being mean. She really didn't know what the hell she wanted from him. But she was still mad at him, that's for sure. She just... She was more focused on the demon and not her hatred at the moment.

        "Come on," Dean commented as he waited impatiently, the phone still connected to his right ear. He was relieved when Amanda finally answered. "Miss Walker. Hi, this is Dr. James Hetfield from St. Francis Memorial Hospital. We have a Karen Walker here," he lied smoothly. "Nothing serious, just a minor car accident, but she was injured so..." Dean paused, a frown immediately forming on his face as he listened to her response. "You what?" Getting another response from Amanda, Dean struggled to come up with something. "Uh, well... There must be some mistake." As he listened to Amanda speak in response, he rolled his eyes slightly at Sam when Sam's head was suddenly by the right side of his own head, Sam clearly trying to listen in on the conversation. The second Dean heard Amanda mention something about him being a friend of some guy named Vince, he immediately just agreed with that. "Guilty as charged," Dean answered her, releasing a chuckle. "He's really sorry," he added slowly, not really sure what the hell to say but apparently, he said something that didn't sound suspicious. Again.

        As Dean spoke with Amanda, Selena moved slightly so that she could grasp onto Sam's jacket. Taking the hint, Sam moved away from Dean and moved to be beside her, looking down at her in wonder. "I believe we may have to board the plane," Selena told him in a quiet tone, not wanting to bother Dean while he was attempting to convince Amanda to stay off the plane. Near Selena, Riley looked away from the many people walking by and she looked towards Selena with wide eyes, which went unnoticed by everyone. "I do not believe that this Amanda woman will leave her post. I may not be able to hear what she is saying but I do know that based on Dean's responses to her, she is most likely being stubborn."

        Sam nodded. "Okay," he agreed with her idea. "We'll go with your plan if this fails."

        "Yes," Dean agreed to what Amanda said to him over the phone. "But he really needs to see you tonight so..." He heard her response and it wasn't exactly a positive one. "Don't be like that. Come on. The guy's a mess. Really. It's pathetic." He paused as she questioned him. "Oh, yeah," he lied. If this girl actually believed him, not only would she possibly leave her post but she'd likely make a fool of herself if she went back to this Vince guy after all these lies Dean told her. Dean's confidence went away as he began to panic. "No, no. Wait, Amanda. Amanda!" Amanda had hung up on him and Dean placed the phone back a bit too roughly. "Damn it! So close!" He began to pace for a bit, trying to figure out what the hell they were going to do next.

        "Alright. Time for Plan B," Sam stated as he looked towards Selena. It was time to put Selena's idea into play. If they couldn't convince Amanda to remain off the plane, they'd just have to board it themselves and hopefully not die along with everyone else if they failed. Dean stopped his pacing to look at the two of them questionably, having not had overheard Selena's idea because he had been too busy trying to get his plan to work.

        Riley let out a whine and Dean looked towards her, still confused as to what the hell was going on since he still wasn't aware of what Plan B was. "Do we have to go with Plan B?" Riley questioned, her eyes on Sam and Selena. "Why not Plan Z? Plan Z worked for Plankton." She shrugged slightly as she recalled the ending of the Spongebob Squarepants Movie, making a face as she did so. "Almost."

        Sam shook his head at her. "We're getting on that plane."

        Dean immediately knew what Plan B was with that statement. "Whoa, whoa." He held his left arm up, signalling for Sam to stop. "Now, just hold on a second." They had to get on the plane? A plane in which would be flying above the ground within the sky? A plane in which would most likely crash and kill them if they failed? He didn't like it. He really didn't like it. His eyes were so wide that they were practically popping out of his skull.

        Sam and Selena both looked towards Dean. Selena tilted her head, confused as to why the plan was bothering him. "Dean, this is the only plan we have that we are able to commence upon before it is far too late. This plane will crash if we don't do something and all we can do right now is make sure the four of us are on it before it takes off. It is our best bet of finding the demon," Selena said. Sam nodded in agreement with her.

        "I know," Dean replied, his eyes still wide. He looked very anxious.

        "Okay," Sam said. "So, we're getting on the plane. We need to find that demon and exorcise it. Look, I'll get the tickets with Selena. You get whatever you can out of the trunk. Whatever that will make it through the security. Meet me back here in five minutes." Dean didn't say anything to him, just stared at him anxiously. "Are you okay?" Sam asked him.

        Dean shrugged as he looked away from Sam and Selena, opening his mouth but he didn't speak until after a few seconds had gone by. "No, not really," he admitted as he looked back towards Sam and Selena. He was terrified. He didn't want to do this. This was a big o' fat nope in his mental book of nopes.

        Selena immediately grew concerned and she stepped closer to Dean, her head no longer tilted. "What's the matter, Dean? What's bothering you?" He was a friend in need and she sure as hell was going to help him with whatever problem it was, regardless of what happened between them. Sam stood behind her, watching Dean as he wondered what was wrong. Riley, on the other hand, was staring at Dean, knowing the symptoms of anxiety anywhere because of Selena...and herself currently; she knew that Dean was scared but what exactly of was the real question. How Selena hadn't noticed was unknown but it was likely due to her mind being both innocent and mature.

        "Well," Dean started, speaking no higher than a whisper. "I kind of have this problem with, uh..." He gestured with his left hand, doing the motion of a plane flying in the air. He dropped his hand to his side as he released a sigh. His anxiety wasn't getting any better and it looked like he was beginning to start sweating.

        "Flying?" Sam questioned in disbelief. Dean was afraid of flying? Out of all things, it was flying? Seriously?

        "It's never really been an issue until now," Dean explained, speaking a little louder as he waved his arms around.

        "Oh, Dean," Selena commented gently, smiling sympathetically. She knew how it was to feel anxious about something or even to fear something. She feared Riley's vehicle, she feared spirits still, and she was anxious within any type of car. Out of all of them (the group of hunters), she was probably the most understanding of the bunch.

        "You're joking, right?" Sam questioned. He was still in disbelief about the sudden news of Dean's fear. He could never had imaged that this would be the one thing he had a fear over.

        "Do I look like I'm joking?" Dean questioned, the anxious look on his face never faltering. "Why do you think I drive everywhere, Sam?" He looked towards Riley, expecting her to make fun of him for this. His mannerism remained the same, unangry and fearful. "Don't laugh at me, Riley. Even if I do deserve it." He hated having to admit his fear in front of Riley and Selena because Riley would be a bitch to him and Selena, well... Actually, he didn't mind Selena knowing but Riley? He felt like he'd never hear the end of this from her.

        Riley frowned at him and shook her head, standing to Dean's right. Sam and Selena remained standing in front of Dean. "Does it look like I'm laughing at you, Dean?" Riley asked, still frowning. Dean stared at her, wondering why she wasn't making some smart remark and why she was being so...nice-ish. "I understand what you're feeling just like Selena does." Though the anxiety didn't change within Dean, he did give Riley a questioning look and she averted her gaze, rubbing the back of her head with her left hand. "Why do you think I asked about a Plan Z...?" she asked slowly.

        "You, too?" Sam questioned. He brought his hand to his face. This was just making things more complicated. And they were running out of time.

        Riley looked towards Sam slowly. "Well, flying isn't what I am afraid of. It's...more on the matter of heights." She crossed her arms over her chest, rubbing either of her arms. "I mean, we'll be so high up and...that isn't settling well with me. I just can't do it..." She give anything to not have to board that plane. She'd sell her fucking soul to the devil if she had to because there was no way she was getting on that plane. Not unless she were dead and it was her corpse that was getting on it. Hell, even then, she wouldn't want to get on that plane.

        Selena released a sigh as she brought a hand to her face, thinking. She started speaking after a moment. "I suppose Sam and I will have to finish this case ourselves. I wouldn't want either of you to do something you don't wish to do, that being boarding the plane." She looked towards Sam for a moment before looking back at Dean and Riley. "We can handle it."

        "What?!" Riley exclaimed, her eyes wide. She didn't like that any better than getting onto the plane. She wasn't about to just let her little sister go into the plane and possibly never be seen alive again. That was completely, entirely out of the fucking question. Fear of heights or not, the fuck if she was going to let Selena do this with just Sam.

        "What are you, nuts?!" Dean exclaimed, staring in between Sam and Selena. "Sam said it himself, the plane's gonna crash!" He didn't like the thought of these two getting on that plane alone. He hated that thought more than he hated getting onto the damn plane, something he had in common with Riley. Selena frowned at him and Dean nearly released a wince as he realized that he called her crazy. He just wasn't making things better for his relations with her. He had attempted, multiple times, to speak with her privately earlier when they were heading to Jerry's office but she kept making sure that she was very close to Riley or Sam whenever he (Dean) started speaking to her and that was a very bad sign. She even told him that they needed to focus on the case and nothing more. She probably hated him.

        "Look," Sam started. He gestured towards himself, Selena, Dean, and Riley in that exact order. "We can do this together or I can do this one with just Selena. I'm not seeing a third option here." Either Dean and Riley were in or they were out. They really were running out of time.

        "Come on!" Dean exclaimed, waving his arms out again. He dropped them to his sides quickly, creating a loud noise when his jacket arms hit his jacket torso. "Really?" He looked around the airport, his eyes ending on Riley. She shared a look of fear with him but she nodded slowly before she moved forward to stand by Sam and Selena. Dean gave them a defeated look, still anxious as he placed his hands on his hips. "Man..." This wasn't going to end well...

        All fears tossed aside, the four hunters ended up on Flight Four-Two-Four when the boarding of the plane occurred. Beforehand, Dean had gone back to the Impala to get whatever he could get by the security and all that he managed to be able to smuggle was a plastic bottle of holy water along with his homemade EMF reader and his father's journal. Within the plane, Dean was sitting in an aisle seat, Sam had a window seat, and Selena was sitting in the middle of the two brothers. Sitting in front of them was an overly smitten couple that Riley was stuck sitting with, her having the window seat beside them and she was highly uncomfortable with hearing them mumble sweet nothings to one another, kind of becoming jealous of them after a moment because they had something she most likely would never have again.

        As the engines began whirring, Dean read through a safety card anxiously. He looked very distressed about having to be inside the plane but he glanced up to look at the back of Riley's head, noting the complete discomfort on her face that wasn't just from the couple sitting next to her. "Dean," he heard Sam say and he looked towards him slightly. "Just try to relax."

        "Just try to shut up," Dean snapped back, turning his gaze back to the safety card in his hands. Sam looked away from Dean in return, an amused smile crossing his face. Dean placed down the safety card as the plane began to take off and he held onto his seat, leaning against it as far as he could. Dean tried to remain calm as the plane rumbled and he closed his eyes, only to quickly reopen them when the sound of the wheels retracting was loudly made. His eyes were wide open and he noticed at the corner of his left eye that Sam kept smirking over at him, clearly still amused by Dean's reactions. Dean clenched his teeth as his fear became a tad bit worse, holding onto the handles of his seat tightly.

        Selena looked over at Dean with a frown, disliking that he was so uncomfortable. She looked towards Sam and gave him a disapproving frown upon seeing his amusement, and Sam immediately stopped smiling, looking away from her. Selena looked back at Dean and, taking her right hand off her lap, she placed it over Dean's left hand. Dean flinched slightly at the sudden touch before he looked over at Selena. She could see the anxiety, the fear in his eyes and she lightly took his hand in hers, squeezing it gently in an attempt of comfort. "You're okay, Dean," she whispered.

        Dean stared at her and he didn't know how to respond. Here she was, comforting him after what he said to her. She never ceased to amaze him. He wanted to apologize to her right then and there, just in case they didn't make it but he couldn't form any words that second. He didn't feel like he deserved her kindness but yet, she was giving it to him. He didn't feel like he deserved to have her comfort him but yet, she was doing just that or she was, at the very least, attempting to and he appreciated it. He opened his mouth slightly, hesitating to speak. His fear of flying was making matters worse. "... _I'm sorry"_ , he mouthed to her. He was so incredibly sorry for what he had done to her and she deserved a better apologize but this was all he could come up with whilst feeling completely anxious.

        " _I know,_ " Selena mouthed back to him with a soft smile. She leaned against her seat and she looked away from him, continuing to hold Dean's hand. She was unaware that she had surprised Dean and unaware that she was constantly doing such to him. She was oblivious to many obvious things sometimes and she couldn't help it. It was just a part of whom she was.

        Dean looked away from Selena and his facial expression became mostly blank but anxiety and fear remained visible in his eyes. He began to hum a song, one by  _Metallica_. Sam looked over at Dean as he overheard the humming a little ways in and he stared at Dean questionably. "You're humming  _Metallica_?"

        "Calms me down," Dean immediately answered. He recommenced his humming, trying to relax in even the slightest bit. Selena holding his hand, and still holding his hand, calmed him down only the tiniest bit but he needed to be more calm than that.

        Sam scoffed. "Look, man, I get you're nervous, alright? But you got to stay focused." Dean nodded, mumbled a weak 'okay' to Sam. Sam turned his attention towards the back of Riley's head and he leaned forward some. "Riley, you listening?" Riley lifted her right hand and she gave him a thumbs up without turning in his direction. "How are you holding up?" he asked, wondering if she was in the same state as Dean.

        "Oh, I am peachy keen right now," Riley sarcastically remarked. "Having no problem whatsoever with," she gestured to the couple beside her, "Smoochy McGee One and Smoochy McGee Two." The couple beside her looked at her in response, having overheard her. She looked at them. "No offense, you two. You look great together. I just dislike witnessing public displays of affection. Go back to your loving ways. Hope life does you both lots of...good." The couple didn't say anything to her but the female did smile at her before she looked back towards her lover, the two of them ignoring Riley once again. Riley made a face as she turned lightly in her seat, turning to face Sam. "And I am having no problem whatsoever with the fact that we are very high in the air now," she told him, her sarcasm returning.

        Sam nodded slightly. "Holding up about as much as Dean right now, I see." Although, Riley seemed to be handling things a lot better than Dean was. Sam leaned back in his seat but he was happy that he had Riley's attention now, too, because he needed to speak of important matters to them. He looked towards Selena last and she looked at him. "Right. So, we got thirty-two minutes and counting to track this thing down, or whoever it's possessing anyway, and perform a full-on exorcism." He recalled learning that neither Riley or Selena had an exorcism memorized from the countless times they had dealt with demons, Riley's response having been something on the lines of it being hard to remember Latin while Selena's response was that she memorized most of the words but didn't remember them all. Sam had a backup plan, though, thankfully.

        "Yeah, on a crowded plane," Dean commented. "That's gonna be easy." Sarcasm. Always nice.

        "Totally," Riley remarked, speaking as sarcastically as Dean. She rubbed her face as she laid her head against the seat, her eyes on her sister and the two brothers whom she could call her barely friends. She really hoped she'd survive this mess. The sooner this was over, the faster she'd be able to get away from Dean. Just because she was playing nice right now didn't mean that she was ready to forgive him for what he said to Selena.

        "Just take it one step at a time, you two," Sam said. "Alright?" He began to eye everyone on the plane. "Now, who is it possessing?" His tone had gotten a bit quieter to avoid anyone overhearing. Somehow, when he had been speaking a bit loudly, no one had heard him and that was amazing as shit but it was probably because they were busy doing whatever they were doing within their own seats.

        "Oprah," Riley sarcastically remarked. "It's possessing Oprah." She glared at him as he sent a look her way. "How the fuck in the duck's face are we gonna know which one of these people have been possessed?" She completely ignored the weird looks that Dean and Sam gave her as she looked around at everyone. Surprisingly, the couple hadn't overheard her again. "They look normal to me. So, unless you've got some holy water or some sort of Latin trick underneath your sleeve, we aren't going to find out shit by sitting around as time passes on by."

        "I believe he was referring to what kind of person the demon would possess," Selena pointed out. Riley just groaned, mumbling something about knowing that and not caring. Selena continued, answering Sam's question. "I assume that demons usually settle with someone that holds a weakness. For example, Dean or Riley." Both Dean and Riley looked at her with alarm. Selena did not notice this as she looked down at her lap where her left hand was rested. "Both are in emotional distress due to being on this plane. They are open to being possessed if the demon is not already within someone."

        "No offense, Selena, but your bedside manner took an uncomfortable turn," Dean commented. He was sweating quite a bit, looking around the plane. He looked down the aisle and spotted a flight attendant slowly heading their way. He leaned back in his seat again. "You can let go of my hand now. It's, uh, it's not helping anymore," he continued. Selena frowned and released her hold on his hand.

        Riley had a frown on her face. "Thanks a lot for pointing that out, Selena. Now, I have something else to worry about." She rubbed her face before speaking again. "Minus myself and Dean, who else here is likely to get demonized?" Hearing the couple beside her making kissing noises caused her to make another face and she scooted closer to the window. Least the two of them were too busy making out to overhear anything.

        "Well," Sam began. "This is Amanda's first flight after the crash. If I were her, I'd be pretty messed up."

        "Mmhm," Dean hummed. He turned to his right and quickly noticed that the flight attendant had reached them. "Excuse me. Are you Amanda?" he asked. 'Cause why not. The sooner this was over, the sooner he'd be off the plane. Actually, nope, it didn't work like that but he wanted to believe it did. The female flight attendant answered with a polite no as he looked at him. "Oh, my mistake," Dean apologized as he looked away from her. The woman nodded in response and she headed further down the aisle. His fear had to be really, really bad for him to not have flirted with the woman and that's exactly how bad his fear was. He turned and looked down the aisle, spotting a different female flight attendant with blonde hair styled within a ponytail. "Alright," Dean said as he leaned back in his seat again. "That's got to be Amanda back there so I'll go talk to her and, uh, I'll get a read on her mental state."

        "That's a stupid idea," Riley mumbled, rubbing her face again.

        "Shut up. It is not," Dean retorted, glaring at her.

        Riley raised an eyebrow at him as she removed her hand from her face. "Yeah? Okay, Jimmy Neutron, what was your latest brain blast? Did you think about how she could already be possessed, making your questions to her useless?" Dean didn't say anything in response and Riley rolled her eyes. "So, you didn't think about that possibility. It truly amazes me how you survived this long." For someone scared of heights, she wasn't showing much anxiety or fear towards being in the air anymore. But then again, she was getting distracted by Dean, Selena, and Sam.

        Dean glared at her again. "How stupid do you think I am?" He leaned over and opened up the bag at his feet, pulling out a Virgin Mary shaped plastic bottle of water. He smirked at Riley. "I brought holy water. What did you bring?" Riley didn't response. Dean continued smirking. "Exactly." Sam suddenly snatching the bottle out of his hand made his smirk vanish, and made Riley snicker, and he looked at Sam. "Dude, what gives?" Dean questioned him.

        Sam hide the bottle within his hoodie. "No, I think we can go more subtle. If she's possessed, she'll flinch at the name of God."

        Dean acknowledged this. "Oh. Nice." That should be easy enough. He pulled himself out of his seat and only moved to be beside it before Sam called for his attention. Dean looked at Sam. "What?"

        "Say it in Latin," Sam told him. This was their safest bet. If she wasn't possessed, she'd just be confused as to what Dean said. If she was possessed, the demon would reveal itself unwillingly. Things would be easier if she was possessed, though, since they would know where the demon was. Dean answered with an  _I know_  before he attempted to walk off. "Dean!" Sam immediately called after him when he was just two steps away. Dean returned, giving Sam an unpleasant look. "Uh, in Latin, it's  _Christo_."

        "Dude, I know! I'm not an idiot!" Dean snapped in a hushed tone before he began walking away again. This time, Sam didn't stop him. No one stopped him. Except the plane temporarily as he made his way towards the back of the plane, the plane shaking and causing Dean to stumble. After catching himself on two seats of two strangers, he thumped one of the seats with his fist once after the plane settled down with its rumbling shaking before continuing forward to Amanda.

        Riley removed her head from her seat, staring at Selena with a bored expression and with her eyes full of anxiety. She needed to constantly distract herself from the height situation they were enduring. Talking about being in a plane didn't bother her, mostly because she pretended the plane was still on the ground. She continued staring at Selena. "Why have you been so nice to him after what he said to you?" she asked her younger sister. There wasn't any annoyance in her tone or even anger, she sounded like she was just curious about it. "He had made you cry. A lot."

        Selena tilted her head, confused by the question. She thought Riley would had figured her reason out by now. "Everyone deserves forgiveness. And he simply had been frightened by what he had witnessed. Learning that someone isn't as normal as they appear can be hard on anyone in various ways. His reaction should had been expected. I had thought I had been expecting it. But still, I cried nonetheless. It had hurt far more than I had envisioned it." Because of her connection with him, it had saddened her so greatly when he reacted so negatively to her. She had feared that they'd never rekindle their bond but when she saw Dean again, saw how he acted around her, she realized that Dean had just needed a little push into the correct direction. If they lived through this, she wasn't going to avoid speaking alone with him this time. Riley nodded slightly in acknowledgement of what Selena just told her, resting her head against the seat again.

        "He's really sorry about that," Sam informed Selena, unaware that she already knew of this. "He'll come around to admitting he was wrong. Eventually." He knew how stubborn his brother could be about anything. Selena only hummed in response to this, a faint smile appearing on her lips.

        "Thing One actually regrets something he did?" Riley questioned, turning her gaze to Sam. That was certainly hard to believe but with this being Selena as the culprit to something stupid Dean had done, it wasn't really that hard to believe actually. "Huh. You learn something new every damn day. And here I thought he was a complete pain in the ass. Guess not." She was aware that Dean wasn't a complete pain in the ass. The two of them had that one good bonding moment after dealing with the Wendigo. She knew he wasn't always an ass and she should had expected him to react the way he had but she hadn't because she didn't think about it in that way, thinking he'd just freak out or something and be scared of them. She sure didn't know much about his personality at all, apart from him being stubborn, an ass, and a softie. At the corner of her eye, she watched as Dean stumbled his way back to them, watching him quickly sit down within his seat again with a slight look of relief on his face. "How'd it go, you little ray of sunshine?"

        "Well, she's got to be the most well-adjusted person on the planet. There's no demon in her. There's no demon getting in her," Dean answered. He quickly buckled himself back to the seat, clearly having unbuckled himself so he could get up moments ago. He looked around the plane, making it clear that he still was having anxiety issues about being on the plane.

        "Okay, not gonna lie. That sounds vaguely dirty," Riley responded, half-smiling. Dean looked at her, staring at her for a moment as he recalled what he had said and he nodded slightly, making an expression of agreement as he looked away from her.

        "So, if it's on the plane, it can be anyone," Sam stated, getting back onto the topic at hand. He was eyeing those within the plane around them. "Anywhere."

        The plane began to shake as the plane hit turbulence, causing Dean and Riley both to clench onto their seats but for different reasons. Dean held onto his seat tightly out of anxiety and fear, that never having gone away while Riley held onto her seat from being startled by the sudden shaking of the plane this time around. Riley groaned and closed her eyes, feeling like she was beginning to develop air sickness. Dean, on the other hand, freaked out as the plane continued shaking for a bit. "Come on! That can't be normal!" he exclaimed. He looked more freaked out than he had been the entire time.

        "Hey, hey. It's just a little turbulence," Sam explained, trying to calm him down.

        Dean took an unsteady breath as he looked towards Sam, looking past Selena whom eyed him worriedly. "Sam, this plane is going to crash, okay? So, quit treating me like I'm friggin' four," he told him angrily. Words of comfort weren't doing him any kind of good whatsoever and he just didn't want to hear it anymore. If it wasn't helping, he really didn't need to hear it go on further.

        Selena placed her right hand on his left arm as she continued staring worriedly at him. "You need to relax, Dean. You won't be able to get through to the exorcism if you don't relax." And considering that she didn't know if someone was possessed or not, she was worried about Dean becoming the victim of possession because of his unease state.

        "Well, I'm sorry I can't," Dean responded rapidly. He had been doing so well earlier with handling this but now, he just couldn't take it anymore. The fear was getting to him and he couldn't stop it. He couldn't overcome it, not fully. He overcome it temporarily by getting on the damn plane to begin with but that's where it ended. Now, he had to overcome his fear of being on the plane that is destined to crash because of a demon. No one in their right mind would be able to remain calm knowing that little detail of the matter.

        "Yes, you can," Sam urged calmly. Dean really needed to calm down. He was putting himself in danger if the demon was roaming around the plane in search of a host.

        "Look, you two. Stow the touchy-feely, self-help yoga crap. It's not helping," Dean told them angrily and in a slightly rude manner. Selena frowned and released a small whimper, making the anger on Dean's face vanish quickly. "No, no, no. Don't cry. I didn't mean it," he added quickly. He wasn't about to make the same damn mistake twice. Well, he did make the same mistake twice, just for a different reason but still, he wasn't about to not immediately apologize this time. "I'm sorry." His eyes were on Selena, no longer on Sam. He was worried that he made matters even worse between them.

        Selena shook her head slightly as she looked away from Dean. "You should not apologize for something you cannot control. You are unable to calm down with our attempts to comfort you so I must take more drastic measures." She looked back at Dean. "I have already told you this but you and Riley are potential targets. You must relax or we'll be dealing with a possessed you."

        "Selena's right, Dean. You're open to demonic possession so you need to calm yourself down. Right now," Sam told him. He spoke in a stern manner, giving Dean one of the looks that their father would give them whenever he was about to give them a lecture about something. Dean stared at Sam for a moment before letting out a slow breath. The way he did it was kind of comical as he continued letting out the slow breath, glancing away from Sam. "Good," Sam praised. He looked over at Riley and opened his mouth to speak but she interrupted him.

        "I don't need any of your lectures, Sam," Riley remarked. "I'm not as fucked up as him right now. My fear is heights, not planes and honestly, this isn't too bad." She wasn't all that anxious by this point, being only slightly such. The distractions had helped lots and while she was still uncomfortable, she wasn't exactly scared. "So, uh, do either of you Winchesters have an exorcism on hand? Otherwise, this was entirely pointless." She had a point. Why go into the plane to get rid of a demon when you didn't have an exorcism ritual with you?

        Sam nodded as he pulled out his father's journal. "Yeah, I found an exorcism in here that I think is gonna work." He flipped through the journal as Riley and Selena watched him, Dean still doing his little breathing exercise. Sam quickly found the page of the exorcism. " _The Rituale Romanum._ It's two parts. The first part expels the demon from the victim's body. It makes it manifest, which actually makes it more powerful."

        Riley blinked, alarmed. At the same time, Dean looked towards Sam in alarm as well of the information. Selena had widened her eyes and she was attempting to read the journal. "It does what now?" Riley questioned in disbelief. "What the hell kind of exorcism allows a demon to become more powerful? It's suppose to just send them back to Hell, not allow them to become as strong as the Hulk."

        Selena read the journal silently and quickly before she spoke up. "The journal states that the demon will no longer need to possess someone anymore once the first step is completed. And sadly, that would allow it to wreak havoc on its own and that will only make matters harder for us." Because its plans to crash the plane would be much easier for it to do. She put her left hand to her face, biting down on her thumb lightly as she read the journal silently again.

        Dean shook his head once as he looked towards Sam and Selena. "And why is that a good thing?" Why was allowing the demon to get stronger something that needed to be done?

        "Well, because the second part sends the bastard back to hell once and for all," Sam revealed as he continued looking towards the journal.

        "It does? Really?" Riley questioned, her face lighting up at the thought. "Like its gone forever? Never to return again?" Sam looked up from the journal and he nodded once. Riley made a pouting face as she looked towards Selena. "Ain't that just grand, Selena? That's the kind of exorcism we needed for Mara." She sighed. "We'll just have to wait until she returns. Again." She hit the back of her seat in frustration. "Son of a bitch. Damn it all." She wasn't looking forward to the day Mara showed up again but at least now they knew of an exorcism that would keep her away for good. Hopefully. And if they had used this exorcism the first time, neither she nor Selena would be hunters and neither of them would had lost the people who were most important to them.

        "First things first," Dean spoke up. "We got to find it."

        Before long, Dean was slowly walking up the aisle with his EMF meter. He received many odd looks from the passengers as he waved the meter around, getting no readings whatsoever on anything unnatural. As he got further down the aisle, he was startled by Sam when Sam clapped him on the left shoulder. Neither Riley or Selena were with them, the two sisters remaining in their seats to avoid crowding around on the plane. As Dean and Sam spoke, the EMF meter began to go off and Dean watched as the co-pilot exited the bathroom and headed towards the cockpit. When Dean muttered  _Christo_  under his breath, the co-pilot paused and turned towards the brothers, black demonic eyes in place of the real co-pilot's usual eye color. The co-pilot, then, entered the cockpit and the Winchesters had no choice but to head towards the back of the plane to speak with Amanda, the only person who'd be able to call the demon back into their area. After much convincing, Amanda agreed with leading the co-pilot to the back of the plane and along the way to the cockpit, she got the attention of Riley and Selena after having been instructed by the brothers to get them, additionally having learnt whom to look for upon hearing the explanation of their appearances. And soon enough, all four hunters were waiting at the back of the plane for Amanda to bring the demon to them.

        "This is where the fun begins," Riley remarked as she waited alongside Dean, Sam, and Selena, making sure to remain out of sight for when the demon arrived at the back. She stared at the three. "Ready?" she asked. The three nodded in response. Dean was ready to knock the demon flat on its ass, Selena was ready to help pin the demon down, and Sam was ready with both the holy water and the exorcism. Riley, well, she didn't really have a job so she supposed she'd help pin the demon down, too.

        "Yeah, what's the problem?" they heard the co-pilot asked a moment later, the man stepping into the galley. Dean acted instantly, his fist connecting to the co-pilot's face. The co-pilot dropped to the floor, Dean and Selena both moving to pin the demon possessed co-pilot while Sam quickly duct taped the co-pilot's mouth. Riley dropped to her knees and she placed either of her hands over the hands of both Dean and Selena, Dean holding down the demon's left shoulder while Selena held down the opposite shoulder.

        Amanda stepped into the galley, speaking with much anxiety. "Wait, what are you doing? You said you were just going to talk to him!" She was freaking out. She didn't understand what was going on. She thought everything was going to occur in a civil manner, not a violent one.

        "We are gonna talk to him," Dean stated, still holding down the co-pilot with Riley and Selena. Sam immediately splashed holy water onto the co-pilot and the skin of the co-pilot began to sizzle, blistering and burning as the demon within the co-pilot began to struggle against the hold he was under.

        "Oh, my God. What's wrong with him?" Amanda asked as she watched, completely horrified.

        Sam looked over at her, not wishing for her to remain there. "Look, we need you calm. We need you outside the curtain." When Amanda didn't make a move as she remained frozen in place, Sam continued. "Don't let anybody in, okay? Can you do that? Can you do that? Amanda?" Amanda finally snapped out of it and she nodded, quickly heading out of the galley.

        "Hurry up, Sam," Dean insisted. "I don't know how much longer we can hold him." The demon was constantly squirming beneath Dean, Riley, and Selena. Sam poured more of the holy water onto the co-pilot, causing the demon within him to react violently. It was becoming harder and harder for the three to hold it down together, it being a lot stronger than they thought it would be already and they weren't looking forward to it becoming even stronger than this.

        "Sam!" Selena exclaimed, releasing a loud tone that was rare for her to use as she struggled to continue holding down the demon with Dean and Riley. "Hurry, please! You're only making it angrier!" She released a squeal as the demon's struggles grew worse.

        Sam finally began to chant the exorcism. " _Regna terrae, cantate Deo, psallite Domino..._ " As he chanted, the demon's cries were muffled by the duct tape as it continued to struggle to break free from the grasp of Dean, Riley, and Selena. Out of nowhere, the demon suddenly jerked its arm up and it knocked the holy water bottle from Sam's hand. Next, it managed to break its left arm free of Dean's grasp and he knocked Dean aside before it knocked Selena and then Riley aside as well before it lastly shoved Sam aside. It sat up and everyone started moving. Dean and Riley tackled it to the floor, Dean punching it before he helped Riley hold it down again. Selena rubbed her face as she got up, recovering from the hit she took. Sam quickly pushed himself from the wall and he began reading more of the incantation of the exorcism. But Dean and Riley were only able to hold the demon down for a few seconds before it broke free again, knocking both of them back to the floor, Riley knocking Selena back down with her somehow.

        The demon quickly removed the duct tape from its mouth before it sat up again, grabbing onto the collar of Sam's shirt and interrupting his chanting as he pulled Sam down to its level, its eyes pitch black. "I know what happened to your girlfriend," it said in a distorted, very evil tone. "She must have died screaming. Even now, she's burning."

        Dean and Riley both recovered from being knocked back, both of them hitting the demon at the same time in separate places. They held it back down on the floor together as Sam just sat there, completely stunned by what he just heard. Selena got up from the floor quickly, getting onto her knees and she shoved Sam lightly. "Sam!" Selena exclaimed. "You must continue!" She was tempted to take the journal from him and read the rest of the first part herself.

        Sam recovered from his stunned state, giving the demon an angry look before he looked back down at the journal, finishing the first part of the exorcism. He closed the book and placed it on the floor, moving to help pin down the demon as Selena finally attempted to help keep the demon pinned as well, her hands on the legs of the co-pilot. The demon squirmed for quite some time, even managing to free one of its legs from Selena's grasp and kicking the journal into the aisle beyond the curtain, before black smoke began to leave the mouth of the co-pilot, indicating that the demon was finally exiting him. But as it disappeared into the nearby vent, the hardest part began as the plane suddenly dipped and heaved violently.

        Sam and Selena, though both were unable to maintain a perfect balance, managed to make it out of the galley as they both took notice of the journal no longer being near them. As the passengers of the plane began to scream and the plane shook more, Sam collapsed onto his stomach with Selena falling on top of him thanks to the plane losing altitude. Selena, with much complication, managed to get off of him, falling onto her back behind him. Sam, spotting the journal underneath a seat nearby, remained on his stomach as he attempted to reach for it. Back in the galley, Dean and Riley were stuck within it as the plane tilted so much that the two of them were stuck in a corner together, with Dean screaming his head off with how terrified he was and Riley couldn't keep her own screams from escaping her lips as she held onto Dean, her being on top of him while he was against the wall, his arms spread to where he was just holding the wall as he continued screaming with Riley and the other passengers. Never again were Dean or Riley ever getting on another fucking plane.

        Back in the aisle, Sam was still attempting to reach for the journal when it slid further down beneath the seats. Groaning in annoyance, he struggled to crawl forward as the plane shook more. Behind him, Selena was getting up from laying on her back, sitting on her knees with her legs spread out and underneath either aisle seat on either side of her. Seeing Sam struggling and not far ahead of her, she leaned forward after locking her legs around the legs of the seats and she grabbed ahold of his hoodie, pulling him back and making him be in a sitting position. Reaching and leaned over his shoulder, she spotted the journal and she raised her hand, making a 'come here' gesture that made the journal fly towards them and it nearly hit Sam in the face but he caught it in his hands just in time. Flipping to the page of the exorcism, he began reading the second part of it as the plane heaved more.

        As Sam finished the chat with Selena struggling to hold him up correctly along with holding herself up correctly with all the rapid commotion around them, a bright blue electrical charge ran through the length of the plan and the plane, in free-fall, suddenly began to level out, stabilizing as the demon was banished. Sam stood up as the plane steadied and he turned around, leaning down to help Selena stand with him. "Good teamwork," he told her and she let out a giggle, smiling at him.

        In the galley, Dean and Riley had stopped their screaming as the plane settled back down to its normal state. Dean, now looking a little less terrified but still terrified, lowered his arms down the wall as he slowly began to realize that Riley was hanging onto his jacket. Riley, noticing that everything was calming down, moved her head away from Dean's chest and she looked up, their eyes meeting. Realizing how close she was to him, she released her hold on Dean's jacket and she jumped away from him, averting her gaze. "This changes absolutely nothing," she told him. "I still hate you," she added as she exited the galley, a tiny hint of blush forming in her cheeks.

        "Yeah, I know," Dean mumbled, mainly to himself. He moved the curtains of the galley to the side once he approached them, looking towards everyone within the aisle. Passengers were getting back into their seats, their belongs littered all across the floor. Sam looked over Selena's shoulder and spotted Riley, then Dean and Sam shared a look with his older brother as Selena turned to face Dean and Riley, a smile still on her face. They did this together and had gotten through it together still in one piece...

**~(Approximately) Between December 2nd and December 5th, Pennsylvania~**

        Much time went by after the demon was exorcised. The plane had landed and everyone was officially safe from harm. The four hunters, after Dean and Riley refused to get on another plane, found a car rental place and drove all the way back to the previous airport so that the brothers could return to their vehicle. Currently, the four of them were standing outside of the Impala and outside of the motel they had been within earlier that day, or rather the previous day since daylight broke out. The Impala was parked directly across from Riley's car and the two sets of siblings were currently saying their goodbyes to one another, just like they had been doing each time their cases together ended.

        Riley was shifting awkwardly on her feet, keeping her gaze anywhere but towards the brothers for a short time. Her reasoning for feeling so awkward was for two different reasons, reason one being because of what happened between herself and Dean while reason two was because she wanted to be nice and she usually wasn't all that nice to either brother. "Another case solved, I guess. It was, uh, it was..." She looked at the brothers and made a face. Screw being nice. "I hated this damn case. Fuck that goddamn plane and its goddamn height situations. Fuck that demon, it can kiss my ass." She stomped her foot. "I am putting my motherfucking foot down. I am never helping you two again on anything like this. I'd rather suffer in Hell." Her fear of heights had become worse because of the plane nearly crashing. Hell, she had even developed a fear of flying. No more planes, no more heights. She was done with that shit. That is where she drew the line on being summoned by the brothers.

        Dean glared at her. "Hey. It wasn't a fun roller-coaster ride for me either, Princess." It hadn't even been his idea to ask the sisters to join, it had all been Sam. So, Sam should be the one for her to be mad at about this. Not him. "The only fun part was when you were holding onto me tightly. I never knew that you liked me that much," he added with a smirk. Knowing that Riley was about to make a smart remark that would cause this goodbye to be as sour as the last, he moved from his position against his car and he approached Selena, grabbing ahold of her hand and pulling her along with him as he walked onward. "Have fun with Riley, Sammy. I need to have a chat with Selena," he said loudly as he lightly dragged Selena away from Riley and Sam. The only reason why he was pulling her along with him was because it was the only way he'd be able to apologize to her privately. And once they were a little ways away from the two, he pulled Selena in front of him, accidentally making her twirl to face him. "Uh, sorry about that," he apologized.

        Selena steadied herself and she looked up at Dean to meet his eyes, him being slightly taller than her. "What is it that you wish to speak of, Dean?" She tilted her head to the left as she studied him. "Are you still anxious despite being on the ground? You can always try more breathing exercises to ease it. It should work better with us being away from your fear."

        Dean shook his head. "What? No, I'm not anxious. And even if I was, I wouldn't do any of that crap again. It doesn't work." He placed his hands in his jacket pockets and he looked away from her slightly before looking back at her. He needed to apologize to her while looking at her, not away from her. It just wouldn't feel right. "I want to apologize correctly for what I said the last time we saw each other. I was, uh, out of line." He removed one of his hands from his jacket pocket to rub the back of his head in an awkward manner. "I shouldn't had said what I said and I'm sorry that I made you cry." 

        Selena smiled at him and she shook her head slightly. "I know that you are sorry, Dean, just by your mannerism towards me during this case. You didn't need to apologize. I have already long forgiven you. All that truly matters is you forgiving yourself for your behavior at that time." She tilted her body to the left, looking past Dean. "Those two seem to be getting along well without us." Dean turned to see what she meant, surprised to see that Riley and Sam were enjoying each other's company. "It is rather rare for you to see her smile, isn't it?" Selena questioned. Dean said nothing as he stared at Riley and Sam for another few seconds before he looked back at Selena. Selena continued to smile. "She doesn't really hate you like she says she does, you know. She is just very protective of me, seeing as I am her only family that's still around. She'll come around. She always does. She's a little too stubborn sometimes is all. Much like yourself."

        "I guess?" Dean shifted slightly, feeling more awkward now than before.

        Selena placed her hand on her chin as she stared at Dean, looking thoughtful. "You are a very complex human being, aren't you? You can show many emotions towards me, such as when we bonded before things happened, yet you are unable to show much emotion to me towards anyone else in particular. Why is that, I wonder." She hummed to herself before she dropped her hand to her left arm. "I will assume this is just how you are, personality wise. Why you had chosen to open up lightly with me is beyond me but it makes me quite happy knowing this." Her smile returned, her serious thinking face disappearing. "I must say that you are like an older brother I have always wanted but never gotten."

        Dean shrugged as he rubbed the back of his head again. "Well, you're like the little sister I never thought I'd want." He made a face seconds later as he looked away from her. "Stop doing that, would you? Being all...you." She had made him say things he never thought he'd say out loud. She was making him feel...feelings. Ones that he'd rather keep hidden from everyone.

        Selena laughed. "My apologies for taking you out of your comfort zone. In time, I am sure you'll be more open about certain matters. Happens to everyone, I believe." She moved closer to him and wrapped her arms around his neck, giving him a hug that he hesitated to return only because of how awkward he was feeling about their conversation. "I hope that the next time we meet, you and Riley will be on better terms. It is becoming a bit annoying with you two being so fussy towards each other."

        "She started it," Dean immediately told her in defense.

        Selena removed her arms from Dean and she rolled her eyes at him. "Actually, I am aware that it was you who ruined the truce that you had insisted on creating with her. And I believe it should be you that fixes the mess that you created in the first place." She smiled in amusement at seeing Dean becoming flabbergasted by her comment. "Until next time, Dean Winchester. Take care of yourself." She walked past him and she headed to Riley's car in which they had walked by when Dean lead her away from Riley and Sam. Riley was already within the car waiting for her by that point and as soon as Selena was within the car, Riley was pulling away from the motel as Selena waved goodbye to Sam since she hadn't exactly said goodbye verbally to him. When the motel was miles behind them, Selena spoke up. "What did Sam and yourself speak of?"

        Riley shrugged, her eyes on the road. "Nothing really. He surprised me when he said that he knew I liked Dean. Actually, I shouldn't had been surprised because I admitted out loud in front of Sam that I find Dean attractive. And we talked about maybe working together again on a different case. And then before I walked off without a goodbye, I told Sam that he wasn't all that bad of a person. I'm not good with compliments, you know." She glanced at Selena for a second before putting her eyes back on the road. "And I still hate Dean."

        "No, you do not," Selena remarked. "You are crushing on Dean still and you simply are just angry with him. I spoke to him about it. I think you should be nicer to him next time we see them. You can't always be so rude to him, Riley. He hasn't really done anything wrong besides being himself."

        "Well, being rude is how I am being myself, Selena," Riley stated. Selena gave her a look of disagreement and Riley caught a glimpse of it from the corner of her right eye. "...Shut up. Fine. Being blunt is how I am but being rude about it isn't how I am usually. Most of the time. Happy?" Selena hummed in response and the conversation went silent as they continued on their way to a different place...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trivia:
> 
> 1) Finally, another little moment between Dean and Riley. While they aren't on the best of terms still, things are slowly looking up for the romance that'll soon form between the two of them. And even greater news, Dean and Selena have made amends, rekindling what was the beginnings of a brother-sister bond. I plan to make Selena bond in this way with Sam (brother-sister bond, I mean) in the near future, most likely the next chapter.
> 
> 2) What do you fear? I fear heights. This is the second fanfiction in which I made a character share the same fear as myself, the first being my Last of Us fanfiction. Something else that I have had a character share in common with me is my anxiety issues towards certain things. Selena is anxious within a car and I am exactly the same way as of recent years. I fear death but I think quite a lot of people fear death because it's coming whether we like it or not but we don't know when it is going to occur to us and that frightens me. But it's better not knowing when than it is knowing when. Less anxiety that way. Lastly, I fear bugs and insects. They are just...so gross and so ugh... Spiders, too.
> 
> 3) Brynn (my friend) helped me a bit with the last scene. She kind of gave me an idea as to how the conversation would go between Dean and Selena. My apologies if he was a bit out of character or anything. I'm doing the best I can with making everything, at least, decent.


	9. Bloody Mary

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once again, Dean and Sam Winchester find themselves coincidentally meeting up with Riley Piers and Selena Grant. This time, however, they are facing something that was supposedly a legend. This monster, she knows your secrets like she knows her own mirror.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Original and Unoriginal Content, Original and Unoriginal Dialogue, Errors of Any Kind, Long Chapter Ahead, Unoriginal Not-So-Important Character(s) Introduction(s), Difficulty With Some Descriptions of Character Appearances, Difficulty With Some Descriptions of Scenery, Possibility of Incorrect Information, Possibility of Out-of-Character Moments, Low Possibility of Unrealistic Actions or Reactions, High Possibility of Realistic Actions or Reactions, Violence, Gore, Scenes From Episode Are Missing, Changes Were Made to Episode (Placement of Buildings or Objects May Be Different to Better Fit Within Chapter, Etc.)
> 
> How many of you thought that it would be a while before Dean and Riley finally started remaining civil with one another? Well, you obviously thought wrong. Unless you thought right, then I'm wrong. I'm confused now. Anyways, by the end of this chapter, the two of them will basically have formed a friendship that'll show less banter, probably. Actually, a friendship will officially be formed between them all (meaning between Dean, Riley, Sam, and Selena altogether). Oh, that little bit of cuteness between Dean and Selena in the previous chapter, admitting to each other that they feel a sibling bond all while remaining in character, that had nothing to do with friendship but more was just them letting each other know of the bond that they've been mutually feeling. By the way, sorry for forgetting to mention the year in the last chapter. My badness. Additionally, real sorry about this long note-like deal but, uh, the date I use in this chapter was made up by me 'cause there was no set date in the show as far as I know (yes, I'm still attempting to do this shit but I might eventually just leave out the dates of episodes without dates).
> 
> Nina Dobrev as Selena Grant  
> Hayden Panettiere as Riley Piers

_I paced around for hours on empty_  
_I jumped at the slightest of sounds_  
_And I couldn't stand the person inside me_  
_I turned all the mirrors around_

_(Control : Halsey)_

* * *

**~January 18th, 2006; Toledo, Ohio~**

        Dean's Impala pulled into the driveway of the Shoemaker household, several other cars parked here and there near the house. The Winchester brothers were dealing with yet another case, this time investigating the rather mysteriously odd death of Steven Shoemaker, the deceased man in question having died with his eyes completely liquidized and his skull filled with blood. From what Dean and Sam learnt from the morgue attendant earlier, whom they had to bribe twice, the doctor believes that Steven was killed by either a massive stroke or an aneurysm. But this kind of death was unheard of, realistically, because it was just too unnatural. And so, here the Winchesters were, exiting the vehicle to approach the house where Steven had died and there appeared to be a funeral occurring within the household.

        As soon as they both walked into the house, Dean glanced down towards his right and spotted a photo of Steven sitting in between flowers on a desk. As he and Sam paused their walking at the front door of the household, they eyed the funeral attendees that were dressed in black suits and black dresses. "Feel like we're under-dressed," Dean commented before he and Sam proceeded further into the house where more attendees came into view. The only ones at the funeral not wearing the proper attire were Sam and Dean himself, the two of them wearing their usual casual wear and leather jackets. The two brothers had gotten halfway through the house, heading past a staircase when they heard a very familiar voice, one that they hadn't heard in about a month and a half.

        "I knew you two loons would be showing up sometime soon," Riley remarked. Dean and Sam looked towards their left as she came into view, wearing a simple black sheath dress with matching heels. She had her arms crossed over her chest and she was eyeing them with an eyebrow raised, this gesture slowly becoming her signature move. "Although, I must say that I'm surprised you aren't dressed correctly." She stepped closer to them until she was standing right in front of them. She made a face as she continued. "Actually, no, I'm not surprised at all. It seems so like you guys to only care about fitting in with absolutely everything else except for a funeral." She caught sight of a few elder-aged people looking at her as if she was the one out of place and she looked back at them, throwing her arms out a bit as she uncrossed her arms. "Take a picture. It'll last longer, bitches," she told them rudely. The people quickly walked away and Riley scoffed, looking back at the brothers. Noticing that Dean was staring at her much longer than he should had been, she snapped her fingers in front of his face and caused him to blink. "Out of la la land yet? Cause you were staring and it was kind of creepy, yet kind of flattering." She couldn't lie and say that she didn't kind of like that he was staring at her in a different manner than he usually stared at her but it was kind of creepy that he was staring at her while she was wearing a funeral dress, something that one shouldn't find attractive no matter what because it was a funeral dress.

        Dean looked into her eyes for a moment before he looked down at his hands, his hands in which he had placed in front of him. "You, uh... You look..." He was getting a bit anxious and flustered, and he usually was never this flustered around a woman nor anxious around them. No, it was usually always easy for him to flirt with any woman he'd come across but just giving Riley a compliment was hard to get out and not to mention that she was being a little confusing with her not saying something very rude like usual, her only saying something kind of rude towards himself and Sam. For now, anyways. And he wasn't sure why he was getting nervous around her again after a long while with what had occurred but she did seem very different somehow, in a way. Much more likable and very attractive, not that he hadn't thought of her as attractive before. He looked up at Riley, staring into her eyes again. "You..." He averted his eyes once more as Riley began to crack a smile at him and Dean cleared his throat, dropping his hands to his sides as he stopped himself from attempting the compliment any further. "So, you're here to...mourn the loss of Steven, too?" he asked her as he looked back at her. He couldn't outright state the real reason for any of the three of them being there, not without creating more suspicion.

        Riley was still smiling at Dean's attempt to compliment her but that didn't prevent her from responding in a sarcastic way. "No, Dean. I'm actually just here to sleep with his eldest grieving daughter." Dean rolled his eyes at that; this was the Riley he knew, so sarcastic about many things. He glanced around the house and noticed that some more of the attendees were looking at them oddly, thanks to Riley's kind of loud tone. He gestured his head to the side and the three of them began moving throughout the house together until they were standing at some random corner where they wouldn't be heard any further. Riley continued speaking afterwards, giving the brothers a straight answer. "Yes, I'm here for  _that_  reason."

        "Have you spoken to the immediate family?" Sam asked her. He wished to know this because if she had, he and Dean didn't need to waste time with speaking to them themselves. All they needed was some information on what the family had seen and if anyone had actually witnessed the deceased man's death. Plus, they could go ahead and search the crime scene already instead of speaking with the family, if Riley had already spoken to said family about the death.

        Riley shook her head as she placed her hands on her hips. "No." She turned slightly and she gestured with her right arm towards the back door, that clearly lead to the backyard, which was located near her. "Actually, Selena's outside waiting for me," she revealed, letting the brothers know that Selena was indeed involved in this plan that they all had in common. "She's, uh, waiting for me to get in character so that we can talk to the family." She shifted a bit, biting her lip for a moment as she looked down at her feet. "But, um, I've been stalling."

        Dean stared at her, an eyebrow raised as he looked at her questionably. "Stalling?" Why in the hell was she stalling? She could be out there getting information by now. Sam and himself could be out there getting information themselves right now. But neither of those things were occurring, the three of them remaining inside and having this seemingly pointless conversation that was keeping them from doing their job.

        "Yes, stalling," Riley stated. She looked up from her feet and she was frowning, her smile from earlier long gone. "I gotta be all nice and shit. You guys know me by now. I don't do nice, I do blunt." She smirked after a moment. "Right, short-stack and beanstalk?" she questioned, eyeing Dean and, then, eyeing Sam for emphasis on her nicknames. The nicknames resulted in a glare from Dean and a snort, along with an eye roll, from Sam. And Riley hadn't said these nicknames to mock them but rather to tease them about their heights, even though she was quite a bit shorter than Sam and just a tad shorter than Dean. Oddly enough, this was her way of being nice to them.

        "Yeah, we've noticed," Sam commented. He stared at Riley for a moment before he continued speaking, something crossing his mind. "You know, I couldn't help but notice how you aren't as... _you_ as usual." Well, minus the last time he saw her, Riley was normally not so kind. This conversation of theirs happened to be a bit more civil than their usual conversations, apart from the conversation Sam had with Riley the last time they spoke. "Is it...you know?" he asked, his cheeks lightly flushing. Oh, he did not just almost ask her that. Beside him, Dean made a face of disgust because he knew exactly what Sam was referring to and he didn't need to hear that shit, even with it being implied instead of it being stated outright.

        Riley glared at him. "I'm not on my period, Sam," she stated, making it known out loud what Sam had been referring to, even though all three of them knew exactly what Sam had been referring to. Both brothers shifted awkwardly on their feet because of her saying it so bluntly. She just had to state everything outright, didn't she? Apparently even her own personal matters. "Thanks so much for asking but no." She sighed as she removed her hands from her hips, gesturing with her hands as she spoke. She wasn't glaring at Sam anymore. "I may be blunt and I may be rude as hell most times but I can be nice, too, you know. To an extent. When I'm asked to play nice by Selena." That and those rare times where she just wished to be nice to someone she cared for.

        "Excuse me?" Dean questioned. Did he hear her incorrectly or did she just state that she had been asked to act nice? No wonder she wasn't being so rude towards him right that moment. She was just acting nice for the time being. Sooner or later, the two of them would be back on bad terms and he'll be back to disliking her, just as she would be back to disliking him. With Sam, Dean just wasn't sure if Riley had been  _acting_  nice or if she was just  _being_  nice. This time, however, he was sure that she was just pretending to be nice to Sam  _and_  himself. God, she was confusing.

        Riley rubbed her arms as she spoke, looking them both in the eyes individually. "Selena has been bugging me since I last saw you both, about me putting the truce back up between myself and, well," she gestured towards Dean, "Dean. I kept saying no but her goddamn puppy dog eyes, damn it. I couldn't say no after that shit." She gave Sam a quick thumbs up as she looked at just him. "Sam, you and I already are on good terms, sort of, so we're good. For now, anyways." She looked at Dean next as she dropped her hand to her side again. "So, Dean," she started and Dean just gave her a look, wanting this to be over with. "As much as this oh-so pains me to say, would you consider reinstating that truce of ours?" Dramatically, she groaned and placed her hand to her chest. "Oh, that really was painful. Ah, it stings so much." Sam released another snort, amusement on his face.

        Dean rolled his eyes. "Sure, whatever. We're the best of pals. Can we get moving? We're wasting time here." He had lost all patience with Riley. All she was doing was wasting precious time, precious time in which they could be using to get information to solve the case. By this point, he didn't give a shit about the conversation that they were having. It really was kind of pointless now, at this point.

        Riley pouted. "Well then. Somebody woke up on the wrong side of the Impala this morning." She turned on her heels and gestured for them to follow her as she headed to the back door. "Come on, you impatient bastards." She didn't say it like she was angry, however, and had spoken in a normal tone, meaning that she hadn't meant it completely. Dean and Sam followed close behind her, Dean rolling his eyes again and mimicking her silently as they went.

        When the three of them walked outside, they all immediately spotted Selena whom stood only a few steps away from them with her back facing their way. She was wearing a black sheath dress that was similar to Riley's, only the straps on hers were a bit wider and additionally, she had a belt around her mid-waist. She wasn't aware of them approaching until Riley gently touched her left shoulder, making her turn around slightly and a smile spread across her face for a moment as she noticed that Dean and Sam were there. After a few short and quiet greetings to one another, the four of them approached the grieving immediate family of two that sat in chairs with their two family friends, sitting by an outdoor table.

        The four hunters walked towards the four females, moving until the four of them stood on the other side of the table. Sitting in front of them on a bench, on the other side of the table was long blonde-haired Charlie, pixie-cut brunette Donna Shoemaker, and long haired brunette Lily Shoemaker. Sitting in a chair towards the four hunters' right was shoulder-length blonde-haired Jill and she was kind of giving Dean a look, like  _the_  look with a smile of sorts on her face. Dean didn't pay any attention to her whatsoever, his attention on Donna. "You must be Donna, right?" he asked, not entirely sure.

        "Yeah," Donna answered as she looked away from Charlie to stare up at Dean. She looked between confused and upset, confused as to whom the four of them (the Winchester brothers and Grant-Piers half-sisters) were and upset because of her father's death.

        "Hi, uh, we're really sorry," Sam told her, not exactly sure what to say to start off this conversation or even move it forward without it being very awkward in some way. He glanced away from Donna and towards Jill, seeing that she was eyeing him now with a smile. He nodded slightly at her before he looked back at Donna, not planning on looking back at Jill again.

        "Thank you," Donna responded, nodding her head slightly. She sniffled a tad bit.

        Riley, trying very hard not to scream at Jill because she noticed the googly eyes Jill was giving both Dean and Sam, kept her eyes mainly focused on Donna. She smiled sadly. Or, at least, attempted to smile sadly. Her smile looked more painful than sad but that worked, too. "My sister and I know exactly what you're going through. We, uh, we lost our own father a few years back." She rubbed her left arm as she looked away from Donna's gaze that had turned towards her. "It happened the same way. Except he was driving when it happened," she lied. Oh, she wished their father had died in a less brutal way. Wished he died a more peaceful way, actually.

        Charlie placed her hand to her mouth dramatically as Donna responded to Riley's half lie, her hand to her chest. "Oh, I'm sorry for your loss." Donna smiled sadly at Riley and Selena, the two of them returning the sad smile. "How did you get through it?" she asked gently. She seemed to be on the verge of more tears.

        "Together," Selena answered softly. Donna looked towards her. "We stuck by each other, grieved together since it was only the two of us for the longest time before we...found the rest of our family. But eventually, the pain that you're currently feeling in here," she placed her hand to her own chest, "It goes away but you'll never forget him. And sadly, you'll never forget how it...occurred but all the happy memories, they can overpower the bad if you let them and it makes things much simpler."

        Donna, becoming teary eyed again, nodded and whispered, "Thank you," to Selena. She wiped a few tears as Charlie rubbed her shoulder and little Lily leaned against Donna more so than she had been. Getting advice from someone whom actually knew what her family was going through was rather helpful to her. She could grieve a bit easier, her heart having less pain within it at the thought of happy memories featuring her father. Selena nodded shortly, smiling sadly at her still.

        "I'm Sam," Sam greeted softly. He gestured towards Dean. "This is Dean." He gestured between himself and Dean. "We worked with your Dad." He gestured towards Riley and Selena. "And these are our...cousins, Riley and Selena." He lowered his hands. "We all wanted to pay our respects."

        Donna looked at Charlie before looking towards Sam individually. "You did?" She was referring to the brothers working for her father. She had already known about them wishing to pay their respects. She glanced around at Dean, Riley, and Selena but mainly kept her eyes locked on Sam. She seemed slightly wary of the brothers but she ignored what she was feeling because she believed it was because of her nerves from what happened.

        "Yeah," Dean answered. "This whole thing." He shook his head slightly. "I mean, a stroke." Playing the part of...any kind of person was downright easy for him and Sam. It helped them get information, helped them get to places they needed to be. He was, truly, a bit sympathetic about what the family was dealing with and he frowned, his blank expression gone, when Donna looked down to avoid looking any of them in the eye.

        Charlie looked up at the brothers. "I don't think she really wants to talk about this right now," she told them defensively. She wanted to protect her friend from any more harm, not wanting her to become more upset than she already was about the horrible occurrence.

        "It's okay," Donna assured Charlie as she looked up at her. "I'm okay." She looked towards Dean, Riley, Sam, and Selena.

        "Were there any symptoms? Dizziness, migraines?" Dean asked, needing some sort of clue as to what happened. Maybe this wasn't their kind of thing. But maybe it was. Just needed some clues. Any kind of clue, really.

        Donna shook her head slightly. "No." She hadn't witnessed any of those things occurring to her father. She would had known if they had but she knew that they hadn't. She would've noticed.

        Lily stopped leaning against Donna and she became more visibly upset about something. She looked towards her older sister. "That's because it wasn't a stroke." She blamed herself for his death. She had let her friends pressure her into playing  _Bloody Mary_  and now, her father was gone forever and there was no bringing him back. She knew it had to be Bloody Mary that killed him because he died shortly after she played the game of speaking into a mirror in the dark.

        Donna looked at Lily, shaking her head slightly as she spoke. "Lily, don't say that." She looked at Sam and the others, apologizing for Lily's behavior. "I'm sorry, she's just upset." She believed that Lily was more unsettled by their father's death than she herself was, Lily being the younger one. She had no clue that Lily was actually correct about everything, to an extent.

        "No, it happened because of me," Lily insisted, making Donna look back at her. She truly believed that it was her fault that her father had passed on. And sadly, she was actually kind of correct. If she had not played the game, Bloody Mary would not had appeared and there would not had been any sudden death. She had inadvertently caused the events to occur, not meaning for anything bad to happen.

        "Sweetie, it didn't," Donna tried to reassure her. She didn't think it was Lily's fault and it upset her a bit more with her knowing that Lily was blaming herself. Bad things happened all the time and this was just another bad happening that they had to go through. And they were going to get through it together.

        "Lily," Sam began. He moved from his position to Dean's right and he walked behind Jill's chair, circling around to get to Lily. Once beside her, he crouched down so that he was at eye level with her. "Why would you say something like that?"

        "Right before he died, I said it," Lily informed him. "Bloody Mary, three times in the bathroom mirror," she revealed seconds later. Sam stared at her, the same sympathetic expression on his face as he acknowledged her words. Dean, upon hearing this information, made a face, not having expected to hear something like that but he knew that absolutely anything was possible at this point. Riley, in response to the information, made an expression that showed that she really didn't like where this shit was going. Lastly, Selena tilted her head in confusion, having not heard of this  _Bloody Mary_  game that was created and she was additionally confused by the annoyed expression that appeared on Charlie's face at the mention of the game. With all eyes still on her mostly, Lily looked away from Sam for a moment before she continued. "She took his eyes. That's what she does."

        Donna placed her hand on Lily's hand, causing Lily to look in her direction. She shook her head slightly as she spoke, this being a habit of hers. "That's not why Dad died. This isn't your fault."

        "I think your sister's right, Lily," Dean commented. "There's no way it could have been Bloody Mary. Your dad didn't say it, did he?" To his left, Riley was resisting the urge to smack him upside the head. What the hell was he thinking, talking like that in front of these women? He was practically stating that he believed in the Bloody Mary legend but that he didn't believe it was the cause of the death, even though it most likely was actually the cause of the man's death. These women, minus Lily, must think Dean is crazy just from hearing that shit. Or maybe they find them all suspicious. Or maybe Riley was just being a bit paranoid since the thought of Bloody Mary actually being real was turning her stomach.

        Lily looked up at Dean, shaking her head the tiniest bit. "No, I don't think so," she answered softly. Dean nodded a bit and tilted his head to the right slightly for a split second, his eyes on Lily still.

        Riley stepped back slightly and she maneuvered by Dean, stepping in front of Jill's seat and she crouched down in front of the bench, her eyes located on Lily. "Then, there is absolutely nothing that you need to worry about. Everyone passes away at some point and your father's time had just came much sooner than expected. Bloody Mary doesn't exist and you should stay clear of playing anymore of those dumb games." She poked Lily's forehead with her right index finger. "They play tricks on your mind." She lowered her hand. "And if you're with others, your friends could prank you." Unbeknownst to her, this had occurred to Lily the night her father died. "Your father is in a much better place now, watching over you and your big sister. So, just smile and you can also cry until you've released all of that sadness. Either way is fine. Your dad wouldn't want you to hold it all in and he wouldn't want you to be sad for long. He'd want you to be his brave and strong little girl, wouldn't he?"

        Lily cracked a smile. "I guess so." She looked down at her hands, lightly kicking her feet. Riley straightened herself back up and she brushed invisible dirt off her dress as she backed up, nodding to Charlie and Donna before she turned around, half waving at Jill before she walked by Dean, walking away from everyone. Selena, after bowing lightly to the women, headed after Riley at a slow pace. Sam, after excusing himself and his brother, followed behind both sisters with Dean and all four hunters grouped up outside of the Shoemaker house.

        Before heading inside, Dean looked over at Riley. "I didn't know you had a way with kids." He knew Selena did but he hadn't known Riley had a soft spot for children as well. But then again, Lily had lost her father and that was something she had in common with both Riley and Selena, so perhaps that was why Riley had acted the way she had acted.

        "Shut up," Riley remarked as she opened up the back door of the house, stepping inside quickly to avoid dealing with any more comments about her temporary not-so-rude behavior. Right now, she wanted to avoid speaking about herself and focus more on the case at hand. The case should always be the most important thing on the mind, not anything else.

        Before long, the four hunters had made their way up to the upstairs hallway. Dean and Sam were leading the way, Riley and Selena following behind them. Approaching the bathroom where Steven had been killed, Sam pushed open the bathroom door that had slightly been cracked open, making the door creak loudly. On the floor by the door's location was some dry blood that had been left behind. "The Bloody Mary legend, Dad ever find any evidence that it was a real thing?" Sam asked Dean, eyeing the floor for a second before he looked towards Dean. Riley and Selena were standing close behind them, looking over their shoulder.

        "Not that I know of," Dean answered as he walked into the small bathroom, flipping up the light switch to turn the bathroom light on. He moved to stand by the sink as Sam crouched down, touching the dry blood on the floor. Riley leaned over slightly, making a face as she stared down at the dried blood. Selena, on the other hand, didn't care much for the dried blood and she was shifting on her feet, a confused expression on her face again.

        "Can someone tell me whom this Bloody Mary person is? I have not heard of them before," Selena spoke up, her confused expression remaining. In response, Dean and Sam both turned their heads to look at Selena from where they were while Riley didn't look towards Selena, a surprised expression slowly appearing on her face at what she just heard. Selena studied Dean's confused expression and looked down towards Sam to study Sam's surprised expression. But this did nothing to help her learn any information on something she knew nothing of. "What? Should I had been aware of this person beforehand?" She was genuinely unaware of the Bloody Mary legend.

        "You've never heard of Bloody Mary?" Dean questioned, still looking confused as he stared at her. Selena gazed away from Sam, her eyes drifting towards Dean and she shook her head innocently. "Huh." He looked away from her after that, not wanting to be the one to explain it. He'd much rather not explain something bad to Selena, considering that Selena was just a little ray of sunshine and the legend of Bloody Mary was a large cloud of darkness.

        Sam, still staring up at Selena, blinked and shook his head, breaking out of his surprised state. She often surprised him a lot with the words that came out of her mouth and he probably should had expected her to not know of certain things like...popular legends. How could she not know? Sam slowly straightened up, no longer crouched and he continued staring at Selena, Selena's attention turning back towards him. As he stood in the doorway, Riley and Selena both stood outside the bathroom beside each other, Selena's eyes still on Sam while Riley's eyes were locked on her own heart-shaped necklace that she was now gripping tightly in her hand. "Well, you see," Sam began explaining, "Everywhere else all over the country, kids will play Bloody Mary and as far as we know, nobody dies from it. It's just a harmless game."

        "Uh, correction," Riley spoke up, her gaze turning towards Sam and away from her necklace. "It's  _supposedly_  a harmless  _and_ stupid game." She looked towards Selena and noticed that Selena was looking back at her. She half shrugged. "It's a game based on some legend that I didn't think was real up until right fucking now. All kids would do is just say the woman's name into a mirror three times and she's supposedly suppose to kill you like she killed Steven Shoemaker, but this is the first time a death has actually occurred from what we're all aware of and that just... It sucks ass, okay?" She looked away from Selena as Selena nodded understandingly, Riley's attention going towards Dean as she played around with her necklace that was still gripped in her hand.

        Sam thought about something for a moment before he entered the bathroom, strolling over to where Dean stood. "Do you think that maybe this could be where the legend began?" Dean made a face as he shrugged, opening the medicine cabinet seconds later as he looked away from Sam. Riley and Selena remained outside the bathroom mostly, Riley stepping inside just to lean against the door frame. Sam continued speaking to everyone but he was mainly focused on Dean, talking about something he realized. "But according to the legend, the person who says B-" Sam caught sight of the medicine cabinet mirror, which was facing him cause the cabinet was open, and he paused himself. He closed the cabinet door quickly and he looked back at Dean. "The person who says you know what gets it. But here-"

        "Shoemaker gets it instead, yeah," Dean finished for Sam, not looking at Sam and having his attention towards the mirror. He, however, didn't realize that he had said Bloody Mary earlier in front of the mirror once unintentionally because of his confusion towards how Selena didn't know of the legend. Not that it mattered since he was likely to avoid saying it again now, thanks to Sam.

        "Exactly what I had basically said earlier," Riley commented. "And it's just fucking terrifying." She twisted her necklace in her hand as she looked down slightly, only to look back up seconds later to see that Dean and Sam were staring at her. "What?" she questioned. She realized why they were looking at her seconds afterwards, making an 'oh' face. "Oh, right. Yes, I get scared of the creatures I hunt sometimes but this is so much different." She released her hold on her necklace, letting it drop back down to its rightful place. She scratched her nose as she looked away from the brothers, her eyes on the mirror. "So, uh, do you really think that this really is...Mirror Girl?" She didn't want to risk saying Bloody Mary.

        Dean shrugged as he glanced away from her. "Never heard anything like this before." He looked back towards where Riley and Selena were located but he spoke to both sisters and to Sam at the same time. "Still, the guy did die right in front of the mirror and the daughter's right. The way the legend goes, you know who scratches your eyes out."

        "It's worth checking into," Sam stated. They couldn't just leave this be until they knew for sure if this was a case or not.

        Selena rubbed her head slightly as she finally began grasping the information she had learned. "Wait. So, this..." She lowered her hand and she noticed the look that everyone was giving her. "...Woman," she continued, making everyone sigh in relief. They had been worried that she'd say Bloody Mary. "She kills people by scratching out their eyes after someone says her name within a mirror three times?" she asked, receiving a nod from everyone and 'pretty much' expressions. Selena nodded slightly. "I see. That is quite terrifying." She tilted her head slightly, her signature move for whenever she was really confused. "Why would anyone wish to play a game where they are potentially risking their life? It is absurd and reckless."

        Riley nodded. "Exactly." She removed herself from the door frame and she turned around entirely, her back facing the brothers now but her eyes were still on Selena, who was now standing in front of her in the same place. "But kids are kids, Selena. They always do dumb shit, one way or another. It's in their genes." She stepped forward, walking around Selena.

        Selena nodded thoughtfully. "I understand."

        The sudden sound of footsteps approaching caused Dean and Sam to quickly exit the bathroom, meeting up with Riley and Selena in the hallway. As soon as the brothers had left the bathroom, however, Charlie, whom had headed upstairs just seconds ago, approached the four of them, staring at them suspiciously as she placed her right hand on the wall beside her. "What are you doing up here?" she questioned the four of them. They shouldn't be up there. They should be downstairs with everyone else. They shouldn't be snooping around, especially where Steven had died.

        "We-" Dean began, looking at Sam as Sam looked at him. Riley and Selena looked at each other, Riley twisting her crescent moon ring anxiously as Selena bit her lower lip worriedly, before they looked back towards Charlie. Dean looked away from Sam, looking at Charlie. "We had to go to the bathroom," he told Charlie. Sam gave Dean a look that he didn't noticed because his attention was still on Charlie. Riley face-palmed, her left hand smacking against her forehead because of Dean's stupidity, no longer twisting her ring. Selena looked at Riley questionably, shaking her head slightly seconds later as she made an 'okay then' face.

        "Who are you?" Charlie demanded.

        Dean looked towards Sam for a split second before he spoke to Charlie again. "Like we said downstairs, we worked with Donna's dad." He didn't like how she was asking too many questions because he sure as hell wasn't going to be able to pull lies out of his ass very quickly.

         Charlie continued to stare at him suspiciously, her eyes glancing towards the other three. Sam was looking halfway towards Dean and halfway towards Charlie, Riley had lowered her hand from her forehead and was once again twisting her ring, and Selena had gotten distracted with Riley messing with her ring that she began twisting her own ring, even poking the glass eyeball of the ring several times before she stopped and reached up towards her neck, soon messing with her necklace and pendant. Charlie looked back towards Dean. "He was a day trader or something. He worked by himself."

        "No, I know," Dean insisted, trying to fix the error that had been made. "I meant-"

        Charlie interrupted him uncaringly. "And all those weird questions downstairs, what was that?" She had a slight smirk on her face when neither brother answered. She turned her attention towards the sisters, expecting them not to answer as well but she was wrong on that account.

        Riley glared at Charlie, clearly developing a heavy dislike towards her immediately just from her knowing something was up and that just didn't settle well with Riley at all. "What's with the third degree?" she questioned Charlie. "Those questions weren't anywhere near weird, they were normal. Just about anyone would ask them." She smirked at Charlie. "Least people with brains would ask those questions but I suppose you aren't on that list, huh?"

        Charlie glared back at her and she crossed her arms. "You tell me what's going on now or I start screaming." Everyone would side with her because they knew her while they didn't know whom the brothers and sisters were. She would win the argument that would ensue from that and the four strangers (hunters unbeknownst to her) would be arrested.

        Riley's smirk vanished and Charlie started smirking again. Riley took one step closer to Charlie, giving her a hard look. "You do that and I'll start swinging. And we both know who'd win that fight, honey." This bitch was really pissing her off, regardless of her just being suspicious or not. Fuck that, Riley wanted to tear the young girl's head off. She wanted to knock some sense into her. She would had done that if it weren't for the people around her, the people she cared about.

        Sam reached forward, placing his right hand onto Riley's left arm. Riley shrugged it off but she stepped away from Charlie, still giving her a hard look. "Alright, alright," Sam said. He didn't want there to be any kind of trouble. He eyed Charlie, his right arm still stretched out towards Riley, just in case she decided to suddenly just jump Charlie. "We think something happened to Donna's dad," he told Charlie.

        Charlie nodded, speaking smartly as she responded. "Yeah, a stroke."

        Selena shook her head. "No, that is very incorrect." Charlie looked at Selena questionably. "It was something much worse that killed him, we are certain of this. However, we are not entirely certain right now as to what it was exactly." For all they knew, maybe it wasn't Bloody Mary. Maybe it was just some random ghost that was copying the legend.

        "...What?" Charlie questioned, confused as to what she just heard. They knew something else killed Steven but they didn't know what it was? Is that what she had heard?

        "What happened to Steven, that's not a sign of a typical stroke," Sam explained in an easier way. "We think it might be something else." He had explained it in a way that was very Riley-like. Short, simple, and straightforward.

        "Like what?" Charlie asked him.

        "Honestly, we don't know yet," Sam admitted. He was basically repeating what Selena had said earlier but in words that were less confusing. "But we don't want it to happen to anyone else. That's the truth." They all wanted to prevent another death from occurring. They all wanted to get to the bottom of this case.

        "So, if you're gonna scream, go right ahead," Dean told Charlie, finally speaking again.

        Selena frowned, gripping onto her necklace and pendant gently. She twisted her body side to side, looking down towards the floor. "I would much prefer for her not to scream. It would only cause more trouble for us all. And it is quite illogical." None of them needed any unnecessary drama to deal with, there being worse things going on such as the funeral for someone whom recently died.

        "No, by all means, let her scream," Riley insisted. She crossed her arms and began smirking again, her eyes on Charlie. "It'll give me the opportunity to knock her teeth in." She was making it very clear that she didn't like Charlie at all. Selena released her hold on her necklace and pendant, stepping closer to Riley as she quickly wrapped her arms around her waist, shaking her head in disagreement with Riley's words. "Hmph," Riley grunted, moving to wrap her arms around Selena in return. Better to have her arms and hands occupied already than have them be free to strangle any stranger that was in close range to her.

        "Who are you, cops?" Charlie questioned them all, glancing around at each of them. They had to be cops. They couldn't be anything else. Well, they could just be nosy but she would rather believe them to be cops than just nosy people. It kind of eased her nerves that way, though she was a bit terrified of Riley.

        Sam looked over his shoulder, looking towards Dean. Dean shrugged a bit. "Something like that," he remarked. They both looked over to Riley and Selena, seeing them nodding in agreement to what Dean had said. Both brothers looked back towards Charlie.

        "I'll tell you what. Here." Sam reached into his pocket, pulling out a paper and pen, and he began to write down his cellphone number. "If you think of anything, you or your friends notice anything strange, out of the ordinary, just give us a call." Sam took a step closer to Charlie and he handed her the paper before walking by her, immediately being followed by Dean, Riley, and Selena.

        As they headed down the stairs together one by one, Riley let out a comment. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say that you were flirting with her a little bit, Sam." Sam looked over his shoulder, looking past Dean to glare at Riley. Riley raised her hands in defense. "Hey, I said  _if_  I didn't know any better. So, you have no right to give me that look, ya dumbass." Sam rolled his eyes and looked away from her, continuing down the stairs.

        "You have a rather odd way of being kind to others, Riley," Selena commented softly. "It tends to be close to your rude tone," she pointed out seconds later. Riley just shrugged, not really caring...

**~January 18th, 2006; Toledo, Ohio~**

        The Winchester brothers and the Grant-Piers half-sisters entered a dimly lit library, it only being slightly brightened by the ray of light coming from few windows. Dean and Sam were walking ahead of the sisters, Riley and Selena close behind them. The four of them were walking down the hallway, heading towards the actual library of the, well, library. "Alright, say Bloody Mary really is haunting this town. There's gonna be some sort of proof, like a local woman who died nasty," Dean stated.

        "Yeah," Sam agreed as he walked beside Dean. "But a legend this widespread, it's hard. I mean, there's like fifty versions of who she actually is." He lifted his hands, counting with the right one and holding his right hand in his left one. "One story says she's a witch, another says she's a mutilated bride, there's a lot more." He dropped his hands as they all entered the actual library.

        Riley let out a groan as she and Selena continued following behind Dean and Sam. "Why does it have to be so difficult? Why couldn't people just keep to the one version? Did they really have to change it all up? Goddamn it." She was frustrated with all the work that they'd have to do in order to find out who Bloody Mary was. She hated research with a passion. As the four of them stopped walking in front of the reception desk, Riley huffed and she wrapped her arms around Dean's neck from behind, resting her head on his left shoulder somewhat. This sudden sign of affection confused the brothers but it also kind of pleased Dean. Riley looked over at Sam. "So, what are we supposed to be looking for exactly?"

        "Every version's got a few things in common," Sam explained as he turned to face Dean and Riley, Selena located to his right now. He counted on his fingers again. "It's always a woman named Mary and she always dies right in front of a mirror." He lowered his hands. "So, we've gotta search local newspapers, public records as far back as they go. See if we can find a Mary who fits the bill."

        Dean nodded slightly. "Well, that sounds annoying." He wasn't looking forward to researching, just like Riley. It sounded like a lot of work was to be done.

        "That is something I can agree with," Riley remarked, removing her arms from around Dean as she lifted her head off his shoulder. "All of this is going to be a pain in the ass."

        "No, it won't be so bad," Sam stated. "As long as we..." He trailed off as he looked towards the computer desks, eyeing the computers. He released a humorless chuckle as he noticed the 'Out of Order' notes on each computer screen. Dean and Riley looked at the computers as well, both of them looking a bit annoyed by this newfound fact that Sam had learned first. "I take it back. This will be very annoying," Sam continued. They were going to have to research by hand instead of by internet. That certainly wasn't going to be very fun. For most of them.

       Riley stared blankly at the computer screens, staring at the white sheets of paper that read the horrifying words of the computers being unusable. "Selena, you love reading, right?" she asked as she looked over at Selena, whom had been quiet the entire conversation. "Think you can lead the way to some books of...History?" She assumed they'd have to look through some history books of some kind. "Or anything in particular that could help us while these loons get access to the historical records?" Selena was the one who read more than she herself did, her having been trapped inside a house for, like, thirteen years.

        Selena smiled and nodded eagerly. "Mhm," she hummed as she skipped past them, heading down the aisles with her eyes skimming through the books. It wouldn't take her long to find what they needed without the help of a librarian. Lack of knowledge of Bloody Mary or not, she would be able to find the books they needed. Dean and Sam both looked towards Riley, but she ignored them and she walked in between them, heading after Selena. Shrugging at each other, Dean soon followed behind the sisters while Sam approached the front desk to ask for those historical records Riley mentioned...

**~January 19th, 2006; Toledo, Ohio~**

        Within their shared motel room, the four hunters had open books scattered all over the room. Some books were of legends, others of historical records of the town but thus far, none shared any useful information to them. They had been up all night long, reading through page after page of each book until they were certain nothing great was within them. By this point, those of them who were still conscious were just about certain that no one by the name of Mary ever died in the town, away from or even near a mirror and it was beginning to frustrate two out of four of them.

        Laying on one of the two motel beds was Riley, a book in her hand as she read it while laying on her back, the book raised over her face. Occasionally, she would almost drop it onto her face when turning the page and she would even lose her page when trying not to break her nose with the book. "...And nothing. Still," she commented as she stared at a paragraph within the book. By this point, she was just so done with reading. In fact, she was so done with reading that she, out of nowhere, just threw the book and it hit the side of a dresser. "Fuck this. I'd rather be getting laid at some bar right now instead of being here, laying on a bed reading shit that won't help us." She sat up on the bed, looking over towards Dean's location. "Anything at all yet for you?"

        Sitting in a chair by a window was Dean and he was looking down tiredly at a book of records in his lap, his head rested on his left hand and his elbow rested on the arm of his chair. He acknowledged what she said but he didn't bother looking up from the book as he sighed and replied. "No but I like where your mind went. It's on my to-do list for later." He'd definitely need a drink or two after this, as well as someone to lay with for the night.

        Riley stared at him for a moment before she began mumbling to herself dully. "Glad I've made your future plans so much brighter, Winchester." She regretted her words about a bar immediately. She shouldn't had mentioned it. 'Course Dean would agree with her, he likes drinking and screwing girls. God, she felt stupid. She herself hadn't meant it when she talked about getting laid because the only person she'd like to lay with right now is Dean. She both hated and loved the attraction she felt towards him but right this second, she was hating it. She removed herself from the bed and she walked over to her bag on the floor, picking it up. "Gonna change," she stated loud enough for whomever to hear as she approached the bathroom. She needed to get out of the funeral dress finally and she was still amazed how no one at the library thought it was odd for her and Selena to be wearing those types of dresses but then again, they probably just assumed they both wanted to dress formally for the day. She closed the bathroom door behind her.

        Leaning against the headboard of the other bed, Selena glanced up slightly from the book she was looking through, gazing at the bathroom door for a moment before returning to reading. Unlike Riley, she had already long changed out of the funeral dress and into something more casual: a long-sleeved purple v-neck blouse, dark-blue denim jeans, and her denim vest. "These books are filled with a lot of amazing information, none of which we need but it is still very fascinating," she remarked softly to Dean. This was another reason why she enjoyed reading so much; books were full of many interesting things.

        Dean looked up from the historical records book he was reading and he cracked a smile as he stared at her for a moment. "Do you want me to leave the two of you alone?" he teased, referring to her and the book she was reading. She seemed to be enjoying herself very much. At least one of them was having some fun with all this reading.

        Selena released a giggle and she glanced at Dean for a moment. "You're so silly, Dean." She looked back at the book, shaking her head slightly with a smile on her face. She was happy that Dean and herself were back to being normal with one another again after what had happened towards the end of the previous year. As she continued reading the book, Dean stared at her for a few more seconds before he looked back down at the records, his smile slowly fading away as his frustration came back.

        Laying beside Selena, Sam slightly fidgeted in his sleep from the nightmare he was having. As he wriggled more, his eyes suddenly opened quickly as he jumped awake, still laying on his back as he let out a gasp. He was quiet for a moment as Dean and Selena both glanced towards him. After catching his breath, he spoke. "Why'd you let me fall asleep?" he asked Dean. It was bad enough that he was having nightmares about Jessica's death but having one in the company of Riley and Selena was even worse. He didn't want to bother them with his personal troubles.

        Dean glanced back down towards the records book. "'Cause I'm an awesome brother." He removed his head from his left hand and rubbed his nose with said hand. "So, what did you dream about?" he asked as he leaned back against his chair.

        Sam settled back against the pillow, his eyes locked on the ceiling above him. "Lollipops and candy canes," he retorted lamely, being sarcastic with his words. He had a frown on his face as he tried to get the image from the dream out of his head.

        Dean noted the sarcasm as he glanced at Sam for a second before looking back down at the records. "Yeah, sure," he responded. He knew that something was up with Sam and he wanted to help him out but Sam was just too stubborn to admit that something just wasn't right. Sam's lack of sleep and reoccurring nightmares were beginning to worry him (Dean) greatly.

        Selena frowned as she stared down at Sam. "Are you all right, Sam?" she asked, her tone filled with much concern. She didn't like what she had witnessed and she wanted to help him in some way. He was her friend, after all. Maybe not officially her friend but she considered him to be one.

        "Yes, I'm fine, Selena," Sam answered dryly. He didn't want to talk about it. Not with her, not with anyone. He didn't want to worry her or anyone else. Although, him being silent about it was causing more worry than him actually saying anything about what he was dealing with. But he'd much rather deal with it alone.

        Selena removed her back from the headboard, shifting so that she was sitting up towards the middle of the bed and she was facing him entirely, sitting in criss-cross formation. "Are you certain?" she questioned, still frowning and showing much concern. You appear to be very tense from your nightmare." Sam glanced at her, looking away from the ceiling. "I assume it was a nightmare that had woken you, yes?" she continued in question.

        Sam avoided answering the question as he stared at her. "I'm fine, really," he told her in a softer tone. This didn't satisfy Selena, her concern and her frown remaining. "Selena, I'm okay," he tried to assure her. Selena didn't say anything more. However, she did begin to lay down beside him, causing Sam to raise his right arm up. She snuggled up close to him with the book still open in her hands. Laying her head against his chest slightly, she began reading from the book again as she raised it up in the air like Riley had done earlier with a different book, being careful not to drop it. Sam watched her for a moment before he slowly began to smile, lowering his arm so that it was rested over Selena's right shoulder. He could only assume this was her way of comforting him and it was kind of adorable. Sam looked over at Dean, who was watching them with a half-smile, and he spoke again. "Did you find anything?"

        Dean blinked, shaking his head slightly as he snapped out of his slight daze. He looked back towards the records book for a moment. He looked really exhausted. "Besides a whole new level of frustration?" he questioned. He looked back towards Sam and Selena. "No." He gestured at the books thrown about and the one that laid in his lap as he closed the book in his lap with his other hand. "I've looked at everything," he told Sam, speaking only of what he alone had read. "A few local women, a Laura and a Catherine committed suicide in front of a mirror, and a giant mirror fell on a guy named Dave, but uh, no Mary." His tone was laced with annoyance. They had no leads at all.

        Sam sighed as he shook his head. "Maybe we just haven't found it yet," he dully said. He looked away from Dean and up at the ceiling again, his arm still around Selena. A few seconds later, he heard the bathroom door open and he glanced to his left to see Riley walking out of it, dressed in silver heels, black leather pants, and a black jacket with sparkling glitter that was zipped up until a little bit above her chest region. "Nice outfit," he commented as he looked away from her.

        Dean turned his attention towards Riley and he eyed her attire. He stared at her for a moment before he spoke up. "Are you even wearing anything underneath that jacket?" It sure didn't look like she was wearing a shirt underneath it. Or anything at all for that matter. Not that he was complaining about that in particular.

        Riley smirked at him as she leaned over to place her bag beside one of the beds. "Well, Winchester. Since you asked, no." She straightened up and continued smirking at Dean. "I'm not wearing anything under this jacket." She felt pleased as she saw Dean's tired green eyes widen. "Why? Want me to flash you?" she teased, reaching up to play with the zipper of the jacket she was wearing.

        Dean was so tempted to immediately shout yes at her. Who could turn down the opportunity of seeing bare breasts of an attractive woman? Just hearing her ask him that nearly made him smile. He shook his head as he looked away from her, not giving in to the temptation. Riley would be the death of him. "As tempting as it is to say yes, I'm gonna say no. We're in the middle of a case, not a porno." Additionally, her flashing him would also mean that Sam would get a glimpse of her chest and he didn't like that thought.

        Riley shrugged, her smirk never fading. "Your loss, darlin', and another man's, or woman's, gain." She sat down on the bed opposite of Sam and Selena. Her smirk quickly turned into a smile as she saw that Selena was snuggling up against Sam with his arm wrapped around her. She spoke in a mother-like tone. "Awww, look at you two bonding. It's so cute. If I had a camera, I'd take a picture. So cute." Selena grinned a bit as she placed the book in her hands down at last, her attention turned towards Riley as she slightly shifted to lay on her left side, her head still against Sam. Sam lightly brushed her hair with his hand as he moved his arm from her slightly, a half-smile on his face

        Dean looked towards all three of them before clearing his throat, looking back towards the closed and opened books on the table. Riley looked towards Dean as Sam sat up, Selena moving away from Sam as the two of them also looked towards Dean, the moment broken. "I've also been searching for strange deaths in the area. You know, eyeball bleeding, that sort of thing. There's nothing. Whatever's happening here, maybe it just ain't Mary." Again, he had been referring to just his own research. He had heard from Riley and Selena themselves that they didn't find anything useful at all for the case.

        Riley groaned. "Great. So, combine that with what Selena and myself found, and we've got a whole lot of nothing." She crossed her arms and shook her head, frustration setting back in. "This shit was just a waste of precious time, damn it. I've read more than I ever wanted to in my life." She huffed and looked up at the ceiling. "We need to find something out soon before someone else dies."

        Sam's cellphone began to ring seconds later. Selena shifted around on the bed as she looked around for the phone, learning that she had been laying on it earlier. Spotting it before Sam, she picked it up and headed it over to him. "Thanks," he told her before he flipped open his phone and answered the call, placing the phone against his right ear. "Hello?" A look of concern appeared across his face mere seconds later. Something had happened...

**~January 19th, 2006; Toledo, Ohio~**

        A couple of kids ran through the park, giggling as they played tag. Here and there, strangers walked down the sidewalk. Here and there, family members spoke with one another across the park. But not all was well. Sitting on a park bench, Charlie sobbed as she rocked back and forth, completely frightened and upset over the death of her friend, Jill. Standing behind the bench, Riley had her left arm rested against a tree with her right hand in her jacket pocket and she frowned as she listened to the young girl sob. Standing in front of Charlie, Sam frowned down at her with much sympathy, his hands in his jean pockets. To Charlie's left, Dean was perched on the back of the bench, intently listening to the sobbing girl's story with his hands clasped together in front of him. And sitting to Charlie's right, Selena comfortingly rubbed Charlie's back as she frowned, disliking the news she was hearing and the fact that Charlie was crying.

        "...And they found her on the bathroom floor. And her-her eyes, they were gone," Charlie sobbed as she continued speaking of the unfortunate event. She ignored the 'I'm sorry' that escaped the lips of Sam and Selena, too busy crying and rubbing her head at the thought of what had happened. "And she said it," she told them as she looked up towards Dean and Sam. "I heard her say it," she continued as she looked away. Dean sent a look Sam's way but Sam didn't return it, his attention still on Charlie. "But it couldn't be because of that." Charlie looked at Selena this time, tears still streaming down her cheeks. "I'm insane, right?"

        "No, you're not insane," Dean told her in an attempt to reassure her.

        Charlie turned her head to look at Dean and she shook her head, her voice breaking badly as she spoke again. "Oh, God, that makes me feel so much worse."

        "Great bedside manner, Dean," Riley remarked sarcastically, rolling her eyes as she remained behind everyone. She was mostly staying out of it, not wanting any part in helping the crying girl. It just wasn't really her thing. She'd be all awkward about it. She had gotten lucky the day before at the funeral thing that was going on at the house but this was different because she hadn't prepared herself mentally. She felt sorry for the poor girl who lost her friend but this was a death that she didn't care about too much, thanks to Jill giving the brothers those flirting eyes. Dean turned his head to look back at her and he glared at her, but she only shrugged at him and smirked, winking at him.

        "Look..." Sam started, taking a long pause. Dean looked away from Riley and his attention was on Sam. Riley had her attention on Sam as well. Selena didn't, her attention still focused on Charlie as she continued to rub the poor girl's back, entirely silent; actions spoke louder than words from time to time. Sam continued to stare down at Charlie. "We think something's happening here. Something that can't be explained."

        Dean looked over at Charlie, following Sam's lead. "And we're gonna stop it. But we could use your help." Charlie gazed at him with curious teary eyes before she turned her attention towards Selena, not wanting to make a decision unless Selena gave her some reassurance about this. All Selena did was smile reassuringly and it was enough to convince Charlie that she should help them, so she looked around at everyone else as Riley made her way around the park bench to be beside Sam and Charlie nodded, agreeing to help them out.

        Sometime later, the five of them found themselves at Jill's home. Dean, Sam, and Selena were crouched down on the rooftop, waiting outside of Jill's bedroom window for Charlie and Riley to let them inside. Riley had downright refused to climb up the house because heights and because of this, Dean and Sam learnt that Riley was deadly afraid of any amount of distance that was away from the ground. It was a bit pathetic, really, that she was that afraid of heights. Silently, the three hunters waited patiently for the two females and soon, the window opened and Charlie was frantically waving for them to come inside before they were spotted. Selena was allowed to climb in first as Charlie stepped out of the way, followed by Sam and then Dean with his duffel bag. Riley stood by the end of the bed, eyeing the wallpaper in disgust because it was thistle-purple (a lighter version of the color purple).

        "Seriously, Riley?" Dean questioned as he handed Sam the duffel bag. Sam approached the bed and placed it down on it, immediately going through the bag. "You're that scared of heights? We weren't even that high above the ground," he ridiculed. It really was ridiculous how far Riley's fear went with heights.

        Riley glared at him. "Hey, we all have something we fear greatly, Jackass. You fear flying, I fear heights, I don't know what Sam fears but it's probably something natural, and Selena fears spirits." She angrily placed her hands on her hips as she continued glaring at him. "I'd say Selena has it worse than any of us because she freezes up in fear most of the time, apart from that one spirit case we did together." She was too busy being angry with Dean that she didn't think about the fact that Bloody Mary was or could be a spirit. And it was likely that Selena hadn't even thought about this herself. Or maybe she did but she was keeping her fear under control, or maybe she even had faced her fear from that last time.

        Selena, standing at the bookshelf, looked between Dean and Riley, almost being practically in between the two of them. She frowned and shook her head. "Please, do not continue this argument. Lives are at stake again. If you must fight, hold it in until later when this is all over." Everything had been going so well between the two up until this point in time and that upset Selena a bit. At least the two had tried being on friendly terms. Dean and Riley both glanced towards Selena, then each other, and then somewhere else, Dean looking out the window and Riley looked down towards the floor.

        Sam stood almost in front of Riley with Charlie standing beside him to his left, both of them standing at the bed like Riley with their backs towards Dean and Selena. Sam looked towards Charlie. "What did you tell Jill's mom?" he asked, wanting to know how exactly she lied her way into the room with Riley. He heard Dean closing the window before Charlie began replying.

        "Just that Riley was a friend of mine who didn't want me to be alone while I had some time with Jill's pictures and things," Charlie said, misty-eyed as she rubbed the left side of her pants. Behind her, Dean was closing the curtains of the window as Selena shifted awkwardly on her feet. Charlie watched as Sam pulled an object out of the bag and she glanced over at Riley to see that she was looking around the room again. Charlie lifted her left hand, gesturing as she spoke. "God, I hate lying to her," she stated as she placed her hand against her forehead for a split second.

        "Trust us, this is for the greater good," Dean told her as he moved away from the window. He lightly pat her on her middle back. "Hit the lights." He began searching through the duffel bag as Charlie walked towards the bedroom door, flicking the light switch off before she walked back over to where everyone stood. Dean pulled out his EMF reader and fumbled with it, turning it in his hand.

        Sam held out an open digital camera that was turned on, wanting Dean to help him with something. "Hey, night vision." Dean reached over and easily switched the camera into night vision mode. "Thanks," Sam said. He pointed the camera towards Dean, nodding slightly from being pleased with the function. "Perfect."

        Dean looked down at his EMF reader for a split second before he looked towards the camera, soon looking up at Sam. He turned slightly so that his back was towards Sam, still looking at Sam as he did so. "Do I look like Paris Hilton?" He smirked and raised his eyebrows, both quickly and suggestively.

        Sam scoffed and was about to start walking around the room when Riley approached him from behind, having moved closer, and she looked over his shoulder. "Let me see." She stared at the camera as Dean made a face, assuming Riley was up to no good whatsoever. "Don't make that face, make a sexier one," Riley retorted. Dean's eyes widened for a second before he quickly did as she asked, wondering where this was going. "Hmm," Riley hummed as she studied the camera, Charlie and Sam both looking at her unamused by the interaction between the two. Riley nodded slightly as an impressed expression crossed her face, gazing up at Dean and no longer looking at the night vision version of him. "Not bad, Winchester. Although, I prefer what I'm seeing now over the night vision version. So, I'll give you a seven out of ten." She winked at him. "Would bang." She turned away from him as a proud smirk appeared on Dean's face, his ego having been boasted.

        Selena was confused as to what just happened. "Who is Paris Hilton?" Yet another female she never heard of. Charlie looked at her, surprised that she didn't know. Dean, Riley, and Sam didn't show any surprise, all three of them already having in mind that there just were some people that Selena had no clue about. And none of them seemed eager to let her in of the reference.

        Riley raised her hands up in the air, shaking her head fiercely as she looked at Selena. "Oh, you don't wanna know. Trust me. This reference is not for innocent ears." She didn't want Selena to be tempted to watch the sex tape, copies of it being all over the internet. She wanted Selena's ears and eyes to remain virgins of erotic noises and nudity, until Selena herself finally endured in some sort of sexual activity with someone. But nope, she wanted Selena to remain innocent in that nature. No porn watching for her.

        Sam walked away from the bed, camera still in his hand. He walked past Riley as he approached Jill's closet, opening it up and beginning to film around the mirror to see if he'd catch anything unusual. "So, I don't get it," he started. He looked towards everyone for a split second before he crouched down a bit, filming more of the mirror's edges. "I mean, the first victim didn't summon Mary and the second victim did. How's she choosing them?"

        "Beats me," Dean commented as he walked around the room, waving his EMF reader around at everything. Charlie had moved to stand by the bedroom door and she had one arm crossed over her chest, her hand resting on her shoulder as she eyed both brothers. Riley and Selena remained where they were, not really doing anything useful at the moment since they had none of their own gear with them. Sam closed the closet door as he looked towards everyone. Dean paused his walking, looking over at Charlie whom he stopped in front of. "I want to know why Jill said it in the first place."

        Charlie shrugged at him. "It's just a joke."

        "Bitch, please," Riley commented quickly, giving Charlie a harsh look. Charlie looked over at her, frowning and twisting her body a bit. Riley's comment had even gotten Dean's attention, him having whirled around to face her. "Joke, my ass. By this point, it's a fucking death omen."

        "Yeah, well, somebody's gonna say it again," Dean replied as he went back to walking around, waving the EMF reader around some more. "It's just a matter of time." He walked past Charlie and he slowly made his way towards where Selena stood, nonchalantly stopping in front of her and giving her a side glance. She looked at him questionably, tilting her head as she waited for him to speak to her. "You've been awful quiet since we met up," he told her in a soft tone, like he didn't want anyone to overhear his concern. "You doing okay? You haven't really been saying much." Other than the few times where she shared her concern for others, she didn't really speak too often and it was kind of worrying him.

        "I have little words to express," Selena explained immediately. "I have little knowledge of Bloody Mary, apart from what I learnt yesterday." She looked down at her feet, frowning. "I am not much help this time around, hmm?" She hadn't been doing much, apart from showing concern and sympathy towards others. And when she had gathered books for their research.

        Dean shook his head in disagreement. "You're helping plenty." Selena looked up to gaze at him again and she half-smiled, nodding slightly in acknowledgement. Awkwardly, he reached out with his free hand and gently pat her on the head, making her laugh some and smile more.

        Riley, standing nearby, watched the two of them and raised one of her eyebrows. "I'm not helping much either, you know. Gonna ask if I'm alright, too?" She had to admit that she was starting to get a bit jealous of the attention Selena was often getting from Dean. She wanted his attention on just herself. She knew that Dean couldn't possibly be romantically interested in Selena but their bond was envy worthy.

        Dean turned to look at her and he smirked. "Nope. Find something to do before I kick your ass." He began pacing around the room again, waving the EMF reader once more. Riley had no excuse to not be doing anything. She wasn't lacking knowledge of things like Selena.

        Riley scoffed as both of her eyebrows rose in disbelief. "Right. You and I both know you would never hit a girl. You love sleeping with them too much for that to ever happen." She turned towards the bed after a moment, looking down at the bag on the bed. Making a face, she began digging around in it. "This is stupid," she mumbled to herself. She glanced up to see Dean strolling past Charlie. "Stupid Winchester. Making me do things," she muttered further, rolling her eyes as she looked back down at the bag. "Cool shit, though," she finished quietly.

        Sam headed across the room, walking into the bathroom. He began to film around the mirror, just like he had with the mirror in the closet, and found tickles of something running out from behind the mirror, finding such a thing at the bottom of it. "Hey," he called loudly but not too loudly for Jill's mother downstairs to hear. Charlie, Dean, and Riley turned their attention towards where he stood in the bathroom, the three of them grouping together. "There's a black light in the trunk, right?" he asked as he looked towards the three, his main focus on Dean.

        Dean groaned, making a face. He immediately began complaining. "Oh, come on. I'm not climbing back down there. Not now. Can't you go get it?" He didn't want to climb down, climb back up, and climb down again. He didn't have time for that shit.

        "Then, I'll go," Riley answered. Dean looked at her and she looked back at him. "What? You told me to be more productive or you'd kick my ass. So, I'm volunteering as a tribute to go and get the black light." She held out her hand to him. "Now, give me your keys, Winchester." Calling him Winchester was becoming more of a nickname to her now than it being his actual last name. She grew impatient with him when he hesitated to make a move. "Gonna gimmie the keys or not, whiny pants?"

        "Hell no. I'm not letting you touch my baby," Dean retorted. "You could scratch her up or something." He shook his head. "No." No one was allowed to drive or touch his car except for himself and Sam. Attraction or not, fuck that shit.

        Riley dropped her arm, placing it on her hip. "Then, go fucking get the black light your damn self." She scoffed as she looked away from him. "And you were calling me lazy..." she mumbled under her breath. She was trying to be helpful like he wanted her to be but no, he had to be a big baby about someone touching his car. It was just a nice looking car. Nothing special really.

        Dean overheard her mumbles this time around. "Hey! I did no such thing!" Realizing he was being a bit loud, he lowered his tone. "All I implied was that you needed to be more productive," he stated in defense. "I never said you were lazy." He had a point, he didn't actually say it but it may had been half implied, sort of.

        During the conversation between the two bickering idiots, Selena had walked over to the window and opened it. With no one aware of what she was doing, she climbed out of the window and stood on the rooftop, looking down at the Impala that was parked across the street. Raising her hand, with her telekinesis, she was able to open up the trunk without difficulty (being able to unlock it with her power) and she willed the black light to float out of the trunk, making the trunk close after the black light was floating halfway across the street. In no time, it was within her hand and she was climbing back into the bedroom, closing the window shut behind her. Dean was defending his earlier words as Selena maneuvered over to him, Riley, and Charlie so that she was standing behind them but she didn't say a word as she looked at Sam, who was at the opposite side of the room still inside the bathroom, and she showed him the black light, holding it out towards her left so that he could see it since everyone was blocking the view. She hadn't cared about the risk of being seen in broad daylight using her power because she wanted to be of more use to the brothers.

        Sam smiled in amusement and put a hand to his mouth to keep from laughing. He quickly got to work with removing the mirror from the bathroom wall and he carried it out, amusement still clear on his face as he walked straight towards the bed with his path unblocked, everyone standing at the end of it. When Riley opened her mouth to respond against Dean's defense, Sam spoke up. "Selena has it." Dean and Riley both turned to look at Sam, both surprised at what he revealed, and they both whirled around to look towards Selena, who smiled and waved the black light at them as they both stared at her dumbfounded. Sam laid the mirror upside down on the bed, shaking his head slightly as the amusement he felt slowly faded. He peeled off the brown paper that was on the back of the mirror as Selena reach over to hand him the black light. "Thank you." Sam shined the black light over the back of the mirror seconds later, revealing a handprint along with the words _Gary Bryman_. He looked over at Charlie as she stared at the words in awe. "You know who that is?" Sam asked her. She shook her head, her eyes never leaving the back of the mirror...

**~January 19th, 2006; Fort Wayne, Indiana~**

        Quite a bit had occurred sometime after the four hunters and Charlie found that hidden message behind the mirror. For starters, Sam did some research and found out that Gary Bryman was an eight-year-old boy who was killed two years beforehand in a hit and run, and Charlie revealed that the car described belonged to Jill. Secondly, the five of them left where they were and they entered Donna's home, finding another secret message but this one had read  _Linda Shoemaker_. Following that, the Winchester brothers spoke with Donna while the Grant-Piers sisters and Charlie watched, only learning that Donna believed her mother was killed by an accidental overdose before Donna stormed off. Thirdly, after leaving Charlie behind at Donna's home, the four hunters returned to their shared motel room and shared their thoughts with one another as Dean searched for a death of any Mary worldwide and they came to the conclusion that Bloody Mary was killing people who had something dark hidden from everyone, something that revolved around death. Finally, Dean found a match to what they were searching for and it took the four of them about a two hour drive to get to the location.

        Currently, the four hunters were standing within a police agency that was located in Fort Wayne, Indiana and they had traveled all the way there just to get some more information on the death of a young woman named Mary Worthington, the young woman having been murdered in front of a mirror within the very town the hunters were in. Sam and Selena stood by one another, standing in the middle of the room while Dean and Riley were located on opposite sides of a door frame nearby. The detective, a person of color with graying and balding hair dressed semi-casually, moved into the room the hunters stood within, holding a white coffee mug as he spoke of the incident in question. "I was on the job for thirty-five years, detective for most of that. Now, everybody packs it in with a few loose ends, but the Mary Worthington murder, that one still gets me."

        Riley turned to face the detective, her eyes having been locked on something else entirely, and she noticed that Dean was making his way over to where Sam and Selena stood, opening his mouth to say something. However, Riley spoke up first. "Mind telling us what happened exactly?" The detective looked towards her as Dean made a face of annoyance at her. When the detective looked towards Dean, Sam, and Selena, Riley smirked at Dean and stuck her tongue out immaturely. She wasn't useless after all. She could get some shit done, too.

        "You four said you were reporters?" the detective questioned them, raising an eyebrow. He seemed to be a bit suspicious because of obvious reasons. Obvious reason number one: they weren't dressed properly to be reporters. Obvious reason number two: they were a bit young to be reporters, though reporters were young sometimes. Obvious reason number three: there was no obvious reason number three.

        Dean and Riley looked towards Sam as Sam began to speak up. Selena, on the other hand, kept her eyes on the detective the entire time. "We know Mary was nineteen, lived by herself. We know she won a few local beauty contests, dreamt of getting out of Indiana, being an actress." By this point in his explanation, Dean and Riley looked back towards the detective. "And we know the night of March twenty-ninth, someone broke into her apartment and murdered her, cut out her eyes with a knife."

        The detective nodded shortly a few times. "That's right," he answered in a low, quiet tone. Just hearing the information of what happened brought back not-so-fond memories of the investigation, the investigation in which was left unsolved.

        Selena spoke up, speaking in a gentle tone. "Sir," she began and the detective looked at just her. "When we asked you of what had occurred, we wished to know of what you believe had happened." In other words, they wanted to know who the man believed had killed Mary and if the man was alive, the four of them could go talk to him and get some more information maybe. But hearing what the man had to say about the case, maybe it would give them an idea as to how they would be able to put Bloody Mary to rest once and for all. At the moment, Selena felt confident about the whole  _facing another spirit_  deal but that was only until they were actually facing her head on. Then, Selena would learn if she had overcome her fear truly or not. She felt like she did but then again, a child's life was on the line the last time and she just couldn't allow herself to let an innocent kid die before her eyes, that being the reason why she had unfroze from the fear but it had additionally made her feel bad for being unable to break free from her fear whenever her older half-sister was in danger. She had no clue how she would react this time; would she freeze up like usual or would she remain as is?

        The detective didn't say anything at first, instead striding over to his desk that was located by Dean, Sam, and Selena. He maneuvered around them and approached the back of the desk, opening up the cabinet. Dean, Sam, and Selena moved to stand in front of the desk, Riley soon approaching them from behind, looking over Selena's shoulder and towards the detective. The detective pulled out some files from the file cabinet, closing the cabinet before he turned and approached his desk. "Technically, I'm not supposed to have a copy of this." He placed the file down on the desk and opened it, looking through the papers until he located a picture, the same picture that the hunters had seen from the internet. "Now, see that there? T-R-E?" he asked them, showing them the picture of a woman lying in a pool of her own blood, a bloody handprint and T-r-e written in blood on the mirror.

        "Yeah," Dean answered, speaking at the same time as Riley, whose words were, "What of it?" They glanced at each other before looking back at the detective.

        The detective looked between the four hunters, who he thought were reporters, and he spoke what he believed. "I think Mary was trying to spell out the name of her killer." It was the only thing that made sense for there to be blood on the mirror itself like that. He believed that after the culprit left, Mary was just laying in her blood dying but she used the last bits of her strength to attempt a message, no matter how difficult it was for her to attempt to accomplish that. Sadly, she had been unable to put the full name.

        Sam looked up at the detective after pretending he had just seen the photo for the first time in his life. "You know who it was?" he asked. It could be helpful to their mission on getting rid of Bloody Mary.

        The detective looked down at the file he had pulled out on the case. "Not for sure. But there was a local man." He pulled out a photo of a man from the middle of the stack of papers within the file, placing it on top of the other ones. "A surgeon, Trevor Sampson, and I think he cut her up good." The  _reporters_  did say that they wanted to hear what he thought of it all. He leaned onto the desk, both hands planted on it and he stared Dean right in the eyes, Dean also leaning on the desk with both hands planted firmly on it. To Dean's right, Sam had taken a seat onto the desk and Selena stood in between the two brothers sort of. Riley moved from her position behind Selena, walking over to Dean's left and remained standing beside him.

        Selena tilted her head at the detective, an uncertain expression on her face. "Why would he want to do something like that to her?" The woman seemed innocent in her eyes. What could she had done to the man for him to believe that she deserved death?

        The detective looked over at Selena, beginning to explain. "Her diary mentioned a man that she was seeing. She called him by his initial, T. Well, her last entry, she was gonna tell T's wife about their affair." That answered Selena's questioned perfectly. The man had learnt that his young lover was going to reveal their secret so he had to keep her mouth shut. The poor girl.

        Dean pushed himself up off the desk. "Yeah, but how do you know it was Sampson who killed her?" he asked skeptically. What proof did he have of this?

        The detective shrugged as he looked down at bit. "It's hard to say." He looked back up and eyed each of the four  _reporters_. "But the way her eyes were cut out, it was almost professional." And because that man was a surgeon, he was high up on the detective's list of suspects and it was a rather short list of suspects.

        "But you could never prove it?" Dean questioned.

        "No," the detective replied, shaking his head. "No prints, no witnesses. He was meticulous." Like most killers, the man had been very careful with his planning. Perhaps he had even been planning to kill Mary before she wanted to reveal the secret. Or maybe he began planning because of it, falsely agreeing with her to reveal the secret on a certain date and then killed her on said date. There were many outcomes and possibilities.

        "Huh." Riley crossed her arms over her chest. "Is this douche still with us? World of the Living wise?" She'd loved to kick the man's ass, no matter how old he was by this point in time. Old or not, she'd throw him out a window if he actually did kill Mary and caused all this bullshit to happen.

        The detective looked down and picked up several of the file papers as he sat down in his seat. "Nope." He released a sigh shortly afterwards. "If you ask me, Mary spent her last living moments trying to expose this guy's secret. But she never could." He glanced between them all before looking down sadly.

        "Where's she buried?" Sam asked in a polite manner.

        "She wasn't," the detective revealed as he looked up at Sam. "She was cremated." Dean looked visibly displeased by this information, Riley looked annoyed, Selena looked distraught, and Sam looked just about the same, keeping himself composed. They were going to have to find another way to get rid of Mary since her bones were a no go. There had to be something else they could burn or destroy that would put Mary to rest.

        "What about the mirror?" Dean asked. He looked down at the desk and nodded to the murder photo, the one they had seen online beforehand. "It's not in some evidence lockup somewhere, is it?" Because Bloody Mary was killing through mirrors, maybe this mirror in the photo is the one that was holding in her spirit.

        "Uh, no," the detective revealed. "It was returned to Mary's family a long time ago." And the family did whatever they wished to do with it; auction it, keep it, sell it, who knows.

        "You have the names of her family by any chance?" Sam asked the detective. They needed some way in contacting them to learn if they still had the mirror in possession or not. The detective looked at him and nodded. Before long, Sam was sitting in the passenger's seat of the Impala, speaking into his cellphone as Dean drove. "Oh, really? Ah, that's too bad, Mr. Worthington. I would have paid a lot for that mirror. Okay, well, maybe next time. Alright, thanks," Sam said into the phone before he hung up. In the backseat, Riley was leaning up in the middle seat to put herself closer to the brothers, Selena remaining sitting correctly in her seat towards the left window.

        "Anything good at all?" Riley questioned with a frown. "Because all of that sounded relatively bad." He had to have gotten the location of the mirror, at least, right?

        Sam rested his right arm on the side door, placing his hand against his head. "That was Mary's brother. The mirror was in the family for years until he sold it one week ago to a store called Estate Antiques." He looked over at Dean and Riley as he lowered his right hand from his head. "A store in Toledo."

        Riley raised her eyebrows in slightly surprise. "Well, we should had figured that one out on our own. Guess we aren't as bright as we think we are." Obviously, if Mary was attacking people in Toledo but she had died in Fort Wayne, it meant that her mirror had been taken there to Toledo. It was something relatively obvious and yet none of them could figure that out without the help of research.

        Dean had a thoughtful look on his face. "So, wherever the mirror goes, that's where Mary goes?"

        Riley rolled her eyes and pat Dean's right shoulder. "That's exactly what he's saying, boy genius." Dean glanced towards her to glare at her before looking back at the road. "It makes sense. Explains why she's killing people in Toledo and not Fort Wayne where she died."

        "Her spirit's definitely tied up with it somehow," Sam remarked, staring at the road ahead of them. He wasn't exactly sure how just yet as to how she was stuck within a mirror.

        "I can share some light on this subject," Selena commented immediately after, leaning up in her seat some. Riley leaned back so that Selena could see Sam in the front seat. Sam looked back towards her as Dean occasionally glanced in the rear-view mirror. "Spirits can remain on Earth through an object that shares some sort of significance to them. For example, Riley and myself dealt with a spirit two years ago in our first case we ever had. The spirit had been cremated, resulting in us having to salt and burn the next best thing, the spirit's ribbon that had locks of her hair attached to it that the family had kept." She looked out the window, turning her gaze away from Sam. "However, with this mirror, I believe it does not have any importance to her apart from the fact that she died in front of it. Which means the mirror captured her spirit as she died, just like some old superstitions say."

        "I see." Sam nodded as he looked away from Selena. "That makes sense, yeah. And with how the superstition goes, when someone would die in a house, people would cover up the mirrors so the ghost wouldn't get trapped." He looked back towards Selena. "Nice work, Selena," he praised her before looking away from her again. Selena smiled slightly to herself as Riley moved back into her previous position.

        Dean nodded slightly, acknowledging all the information. "So, Mary dies in front of a mirror and it draws in her spirit."

        "Yeah, but how could she move through like a hundred different mirrors?" Sam questioned as he looked towards Dean. Dean looked back at him for a second before Sam looked towards the backseat where Selena was while Dean looked through the rear-view mirror again, Riley moving out of the way once more.

        Selena answered Sam's question. "Because mirrors connect with one another. They are like another plain of existence, which is where Mary's spirit dwells currently. She can move freely amongst them as long as she is within the town where her mirror is held."

        "I say, if the mirror is the source, we find it and smash it," Dean responded. He completely ignored Riley's low comment of  _Hulk Smash_ , mostly as he tried not to smile.

        "Yeah, I don't know, maybe that'll work," Sam said. His cellphone began to ring and he flipped it open, answering the call as he placed his phone to his right ear. "Hello." Hearing the sounds of sobbing, a look of concern crossed his face. "Charlie?" Something had happened again and it didn't sound good...

**~January 19th, 2006; Toledo, Ohio~**

        Within the motel room, Charlie sat in the middle of Sam's bed, her head resting on her knees as she rocked back and forth, silently releasing more tears; her friend Donna had said Bloody Mary into the mirror three times while she was with her and now, Bloody Mary was out to get her. With her arms wrapped around Charlie, Selena rocked back and forth with her, her head on Charlie's head as she rubbed Charlie's arms comfortingly, not saying a word because words wouldn't be able to fix the problem they were currently dealing with. Dean, Riley, and Sam worked together to cover anything with a reflective surface, closing all of the curtains and throwing sheets over the mirrors while turning some of the mirrors towards the wall or the floor.

        Once the three were finished making the room safe for Charlie, Sam sat down beside Charlie and Selena. "Hey," he spoke softly. "Hey, it's okay. You can open up your eyes, Charlie. It's okay, alright?" Charlie slowly began to look up as she continued rocking with Selena. "Now, listen," Sam continued, still speaking softly to her. "You're gonna stay right here on this bed and you're not gonna look at glass or anything else that has a reflection, okay? And as long as you do that, she cannot get you."

        Charlie stopped rocking, causing Selena to stop doing so as well. She didn't look at either of them but she spoke fearfully, quietly. "But I can't keep that up forever. I'm gonna die, aren't I?"

        "No. No." Sam shook his head as he stared at her, continuing to speak in a soft tone. "Not anytime soon."

        "We will not allow that to happen," Selena told Charlie adamantly as she removed her head from Charlie's, looking her in the eyes. "I promise. We will make everything okay again. We'll save you." Charlie nodded gently and she laid her head against Selena's left shoulder, sniffling.

        Dean approached the bed, sitting down on the edge of it so that he was sitting directly in front of Charlie and Selena. Riley remained standing but she moved closer to the bed. "Alright, Charlie. We need to know what happened." When Charlie began explaining what had occurred, Dean shook his head. "That's not what we're talking about," he told her. She glanced at him, keeping her head on Selena's shoulder. "Something happened, didn't it? In your life. A secret where someone got hurt. Can you tell us about it?" he asked her.

        Charlie's lip quivered as she raised her head from Selena's shoulder. With her eyes on the sheet of the bed, she began revealing her secret. "I had this boyfriend. I loved him. But he kind of scared me too, you know? And one night, at his house, we got in this fight. Then, I broke up with him and he got upset, and he said he needed me and he loved me, and he said  _Charlie, if you walk out that door right now, I'm gonna kill myself_. And you know what I said? I said  _go ahead_  and I left." She looked up towards Dean, her voice breaking as she spoke again. "How could I say that? How could I leave him like that?" She looked away from Dean, looking towards Sam now. "I just... I didn't believe him, you know? I should have." She laid her head back against Selena's shoulder, letting out quiet sobs as she closed her eyes.

        "That wasn't your fault, Charlie," Riley spoke up after a moment of listening to Charlie cry. She sat down on the bed, sitting beside Dean and she stared at Charlie as everyone looked towards her. "No one could had predicted what he would do. All you did was do something anyone else would have done in that sort of situation." She smiled sadly and looked down at her hand that was laying on the bedsheet. "Stop blaming yourself for something that was beyond your control." Charlie stared at her, sniffling and she didn't say a word as she took Riley's words into consideration...

        Shortly after Charlie eventually cried herself to sleep, the four hunters crowded back into the Impala and they were off to the location of the antique shop that held Mary's mirror. Halfway through the ride, everyone was completely silent and all that really could be heard was the sound of the pouring rain outside the vehicle. But the almost silence was broken when Dean spoke up. "You know, her boyfriend killing himself, I agree with what Riley had said. That's not really Charlie's fault. That was out of her control."

        Riley's eyes widened in shock as she leaned against her seat behind Sam, her eyes drifting towards the back of Dean's head. "I think that's the first time you've agreed with  _me_ about something, this not being the other way around like usual." She hadn't expected him to outright state his agreement at such a random time. Although, this was Dean and he tended to do unexpected things. Dean didn't respond to her, his blank expression remaining.

        "You know as well as I do, spirits don't exactly see shades of gray, Dean," Sam commented as he responded to what Dean had said. "Charlie had a secret, someone died." He looked over at Dean. "That's good enough for Mary." Dean shrugged, keeping his eyes on the road. Sam sucked in a breath before he spoke once more. "You know, I've been thinking. It might not be enough to just smash that mirror."

        Dean looked over at Sam. "Why, what do you mean?"

        "Mary's hard to pin down, right? I mean, she moves around from mirror to mirror so who's to say that she's not just gonna keep hiding in them forever? So, maybe we should try to pin her down. You know, summon her to her mirror and then smash it," Sam explained.

        "How do you know this will work?" Selena asked curiously from her seat behind Dean.

        "I don't," Sam answered honestly. "Not for sure."

        "I like this plan," Riley commented as she leaned forward in her seat, sliding to her left a bit since she was once again without a seat-belt and she leaned forward in between the brothers. "But, uh, who's gonna be summoning her? I, for one, have nothing to hide. I'm very open with my private and public life. Selena, she's kind of an open book and far too innocent to have anything hidden deep down. So, that just leaves the two of you." She smirked as she looked between the two of them, neither of the brothers looking in her direction. "Got any juicy secrets that Mary will kill you over? Ah, wait, don't tell me or otherwise, it won't be a secret anymore. Leave it for Mary, whichever one of you summons her."

        "I will summon her," Sam revealed. "She'll come after me." All he could think about right this moment were his nightmares and what had happened to Jess. It had been his fault she died. He knew it was his fault. And while Dean knew part of what happened, some of the events were left a secret. Additionally, Selena knew some of what happened from when she eavesdropped on a conversation Sam was having with Dean during the Wendigo hunt. And as far as he knew, Riley didn't know anything at all about it.

        "Alright, you know what, that's it," Dean asserted, pulling the Impala over to the right of the road, making Riley clench onto the seats of either brother. Dean had enough of this mess. He didn't care that Riley and Selena were going to be overhearing the conversation that was about to occur because he just had enough. He was done. He looked over at Sam, in between angry, annoyed, and worried. "This is about Jessica, isn't it? You think that's your dirty little secret, that you killed her somehow? Sam, this has got to stop, man. I mean, the nightmares and calling her name out in the middle of the night, it's gonna kill you,"  he told Sam. "Now, listen to me. It wasn't your fault. If you wanna blame something, then blame the thing that killed her. Or hell, why don't you take a swing at me?" This caused Sam to look at Dean. "I mean, I'm the one that dragged you away from her in the first place," he pointed out in a snarl. In the backseat, Riley and Selena listened silently.

        "I don't blame you," Sam told Dean.

        Dean shook his head as he spoke. "Well, you shouldn't blame yourself because there's nothing you could've done." What happened, happened. There was no preventing it, there was no way that it could had been stopped. Jessica's fate had been sealed and it hadn't been because of Sam. Dean didn't believe it was.

        "I could've warned her," Sam argued. He could had done something to prevent it.

        "About what?!" Dean yelled. "You didn't know what was gonna happen!" Sam looked away from Dean and Dean slightly lowered his tone. "And besides, all of this isn't a secret. I mean, I know all about it. Selena knows about it and Riley too. It's not gonna work with Mary, anyway."

        "No, you don't," Sam announced. "You don't know all about it. I haven't told you everything." He gestured towards Riley and Selena, whom were still silently listening in the backseat. "They haven't heard everything."

        "What are you talking about?" Dean questioned him, feeling some dread along with worry. What didn't he know? What else had happened that Sam hadn't told him about?

        "Well, it wouldn't really be a secret if I told you, would it?" Sam countered. He needed to be the one to deal with Bloody Mary. He was the only one with a secret that revolved around death. He was the only one who could put this case to rest. He was the only one who could save the lives of others that could potentially fall victim to Bloody Mary, Charlie included. He had to be the one to do this. He had to do this.

        Dean looked at him, his eyebrows raising in surprise. He looked away from Sam for a second, still surprised and he looked back at him. "No. I don't like it. It's not gonna happen, forget it." He wasn't going to allow Sam to put himself in danger like that. There had to be some other way. Just not that way. Any way but that way.

        Sam stared at Dean as Dean looked away from him. "Dean, that girl back there is going to die unless we do something about it. And you know what? Who knows how many more people are gonna die after that? Now, we're doing this." Dean looked towards Sam as Sam finished speaking. "You've got to let me do this." Dean stared at him for a moment before he leaned back against his seat, his expression showing that while he didn't want to do this, he knew that they had to. Sam looked away from Dean, waiting for Dean to commence driving to the shop again.

        Riley, having remained where she was the whole time, was frowning as she looked up at the ceiling of the car. She hadn't expected to hear anything like this coming from them. She never expected that she could relate to one of them quite a bit. She released her hold on their seats as she laid her head on the left shoulder of Sam's seat. "...Sam, who was Jess to you?" she asked gently. Sam sighed, resting his arm on the side door and placing his head against his hand, not answering her. "Sam, who was Jess to you?" Riley echoed, speaking in a louder and impatient tone as her gaze moved from the ceiling and towards Sam.

        "Someone he loved," Selena answered in a whisper. "Some sort of creature killed her." Not once had she mentioned this to Riley after she had learnt this information. It hadn't been her story to tell but she didn't want to keep it back anymore. Since this was the conversation now, she chose to reveal what she knew. She figured that Sam would be displeased with her revealing this but information had been revealed and she knew that Riley wouldn't take no answer for an answer.

        Hearing this from Selena made Riley become a bit angrier. "Why am I the last one finding out about this?" She lifted her head from Sam's seat and she looked towards the backseat, looking towards where Selena sat and she threw out her left arm in a  _what the hell_  manner. "How the hell did you know about this, Selena?" she questioned her. How come she already knew about this? And why the hell hadn't she told her about this sooner?

        Selena looked down in shame. "I had listened to a conversation of theirs during the Wendigo fiasco." She looked back up towards Riley. "And I learnt something else but I am not inclined to inform you of it as of right now." She was referring to the father of the Winchesters being missing in action. "I had not mentioned this beforehand because it had both escaped my mind and had not been my business to share."

        It was clear from the expression of Riley's face that she was very frustrated with what she was learning. "Great," she answered sarcastically. She looked away from Selena and towards the front of the car. "I was wrong. Selena does have secrets. Except they aren't her secrets to tell so she's still good, I guess." She shook her head, placing herself back on track. "Right. Anyways, I'll assume that you both have been attempting to track the son of a bitch down in between hunts, am I right?" She didn't get an answer and she rolled her eyes. "Okay, I'll assume I am. But you need to be careful, the both of you. You don't even know what it is or was, for starters, and you could get yourselves killed if you go about this the wrong way." She gestured towards Selena as she spoke, both brothers staring at her as they listened. "I nearly got Selena killed when my boyfriend was fucking murdered by some crazy psycho demon that wanted to get in my pants again. I mean, I had been pissed off before when it killed my parents but her killing Brian amplified my hatred and I couldn't think straight." And as a result, like she said, she almost got Selena killed.

        Dean looked over at Sam. "Hear that, Sammy? She couldn't think straight."

        Sam glared at Dean. "I'm still doing this, Dean." He wasn't going back on his plan. He needed to do this or more people would die. He didn't care if he ended up getting himself killed because of this plan since it meant that they'd be saving more lives, preventing lives from being taken.

        It grew real quiet within the car before Riley spoke up again, breaking the short silence. "After this shit is dealt with, Selena and I are helping you two dumbasses with finding that son of a bitch, okay?" Dean and Sam quickly looked at her, both of them surprised. Riley didn't smirk or smile, her face remaining serious as she looked between the two. "I'm not kidding. We hunt these bastards down to help people, save lives. And I'm not about to just walk away, knowing that you two could be killed and that this could be the last time I ever see you two breathing. You don't want us following you, fine. We coincidentally regroup, anyways, and we can do research while we're on our own, let you know if we ever come up with anything. And we're not taking no for an answer because we're helping regardless of if you want us to help or not." She leaned back into the seat properly and she let out a huff of breath. "Just wish I was told about this shit sooner."

        "Sorry," Selena mumbled in apology. As much as she had wanted to help the brothers out, she had never voiced the situation to Riley. But now that Riley knew almost everything she knew, Selena was more determined to help them with their problem, even though she wasn't verbally voicing it out loud at that very moment.

        "Whatever," Riley responded. "Wasn't really your problem to tell." She looked over at Selena. "You do agree with me about helping them, don't you?" Selena nodded eagerly. Riley nodded shortly in response. "Great, I thought so." She looked out the window.

        "...Thank you," Sam spoke up after a moment. As much as he didn't want them to be involved, he was glad that they'd be getting their help now. And he hoped that this wouldn't end badly for them all. Maybe things would turn out alright, though. He heard Riley respond with a hum and he looked over at Dean. Dean seemed to be deep in thought, his eyes on the road, and soon, he began driving again, finally back to focusing on the problem at hand.

        After arriving at the antique shop that night shortly after it had finished raining, Sam picked at the lock of the entrance as Dean and Riley kept a lookout for any wandering townsfolk. Selena just looked over Sam's shoulder, standing a little bit behind him as she stared at his hands, watching him work his magic. After successfully picking the lock of the big glass doors, Sam pulled the door open and stepped inside as he placed his tools into his pocket while Dean, Riley, and Selena followed him inside. After fully entering the shop and closing the door behind them, they all noticed that the entire place was filled with mirrors of different shapes and sizes. In their right hand, Dean and Riley were holding a crowbar each.

        "Goddamn. This is just about as bad as those rooms inside haunted houses," Riley commented as she looked around, standing in one place. "You know, those rooms with the mirrors all over the walls. It's kind of like a maze except more disorienting. Gives me a headache." She shook her head slightly as she looked at her reflection in the mirror. "God, I'm starting to regret agreeing with this idea."

        Sam pulled out a flashlight as Dean pulled out the picture of Mary's deceased body. They needed the picture to know what the mirror looked like. Dean held it out in front of Sam and Sam shined the flashlight down at it as Riley and Selena looked around the brothers to see it, all four of them trying to memorize the mirrors looks. "Alright," Dean commented after a moment. "Let's start looking." Splitting up, the four of them walked around the antique store, walking past many mirrors, dressers, lamps, and anything else that was usually found within an antique store. After several minutes of searching, Dean called out to everyone. "Maybe they've already sold it."

        Immediately after Dean yelled this to everyone, Sam's flashlight lit up a mirror, it matching the one that was within the photo. "I don't think so," Sam called back. He had just found the mirror they were looking for. Now, they just needed to start step two.

        Dean, Riley, and Selena headed over to Sam's location, moving to stand on either side of him. Dean pulled the photo, placing it in front of the light of the flashlight. He looked between the mirror and the photo, comparing the two. "That's it." He sighed as he placed the picture back in his pocket, looking towards Sam. "You sure about this?" There was no going back if they continued any further than this.

        As an answer, Sam turned off the flashlight and handed it over to Dean. Dean made a face as he took the flashlight from Sam, placing it in his pocket with the picture. Dean and Sam approached Mary's mirror, Riley approaching the mirror to its right and Selena approaching the mirror to its left. Dean handed his crowbar over to Sam as Sam sighed and began chanting. "Bloody Mary. Bloody Mary." He looked over at Dean, Dean giving him an unsure look back. He looked towards Riley, who shrugged, and then towards Selena, who shared a look of concern with him. He looked back towards the mirror and readied his crowbar. "Bloody Mary."

        As the chimes began to jingle, everyone's attention went away from the mirror. They all noticed a light shining into the store. Dean looked towards Mary's mirror again before turning towards the light that was shining inside. "I'll go check that out." He looked at Sam. "Stay here, be careful," he instructed before he started walking away. He paused for a second, turning back towards Sam who had his crowbar readied again. "Smash anything that moves."

        "Wait," Riley called out to Dean before he could continue onward any further. He looked at her as she started approaching him. "I'll come with you." She looked back towards Selena, seeing that Selena was eyeing her with wide eyes. "Selena, stay here with Sam. Keep him safe."

        "But..." Selena shook her head, taking a step forward, moving away from the mirrors and towards the two. "Riley, I do not think that this is the best option." She didn't like this plan. She'd rather be the one to go with Dean. She felt that she would just make matters worse by staying with Sam, with her fear and all that. And it wasn't just her fear that was making her want to go outside, it was something else entirely.

        Riley took a few steps forward, approaching Selena. She placed her free hand on Selena's shoulder. "You can do this, Selena. You can face this fear of yours. If you have to," she handed Selena the crowbar and Selena reluctantly took it from her, "Close your eyes and swing the crowbar, and hope that you miss Sam. You can't be scared of something you can't see, can you? Good luck." She quickly turned around and re-approached Dean, the two of them heading off to investigate the light as Selena released a whimper.

        "Alright, stay with me, Selena," Sam said, his eyes on the mirrors. He was trying to ease her anxiety by speaking calmly to her but his heart was racing right now, so it made that a bit difficult. "I need you to stand by one of these mirrors and when I say so, I want you to smash it. Can you do that?" He glanced over at Selena when he didn't hear her answer, seeing her trembling madly with the crowbar in her hands, her eyes focused on where Dean and Riley had been. "Selena, can you do that for me, please?" he pleaded, causing Selena to look in his direction finally and he caught the glimpse of fear in those brown eyes of hers. She nodded lightly and positioned herself by the mirror to the left of Mary's mirror again, hesitatingly readying the crowbar she was holding.

        Several seconds afterwards, Mary appeared in the mirror by Selena. Her hair was black as coal, covering her face completely. She was wearing her dark-colored dress that she had been murdered in. She looked creepy as hell, just standing there within the reflection with her hidden eyes locked on Selena. However, Selena hadn't seen her, especially because she had closed her eyes. Upon Sam's instructions when he stopped Mary, Selena swung the crowbar and the mirror shattered to pieces. Immediately afterwards, Mary appeared in the mirror that was to the right of her own mirror and Sam immediately smashed the mirror with his crowbar, his attention soon returning to Mary's mirror.

        "Come on," Sam mumbled as he held the crowbar up, ready to swing. "Come into this one." Sam stared at his reflection, panting lightly and he looked at it oddly as the reflection began smirking at him when he himself wasn't smirking at all. Blood began to drip down the eyes of his reflection and soon enough, blood began dripping out of his own as he began to have trouble breathing. He released his grip on the crowbar as he placed a hand to his chest. He was hoping that Selena would notice, that she would break the mirror before he got anywhere close to dying but she never did so. Because she was stuck in the same predicament as he was.

        While Sam had been breaking the mirror to his right, Selena had backed up from fright and she had bumped into something, namely another mirror. She turned around quickly, her eyes shooting open and she whimpered when she came face-to-face with a smirking reflection of herself, just as Sam began staring at his own reflection oddly. Unbeknownst to everyone, Selena had a secret that revolved around death and it was of something that had occurred long ago. Selena began to gasp for air as she began having breathing problems of her own, blood dripping out of her eyes at the same time as her smirking reflection. " _You let him die_ ," her reflection told her, its voice between being demonic and being her own voice. " _You allowed him to leave the house. You let him die_."

        Outside of the shop, Dean and Riley were dealing with a situation of their own. Two police officers had shown up and like the idiot that he was, Dean stated a lie and had been caught in it. From then on, he and Riley both had to create more lies to cover up the first lie Dean had said. And it didn't seem to be helping their case at all because both officers closed in on them on either side. "You know, I just-I really don't have time for this right now," Dean commented as he shook his head, looking between the two cops. Turning towards the cop that stood closest to him, he swung his right arm and punched the man in the face. He turned around, only to see Riley punching the other cop in the face with her left hand and knocking the man flat on his back. Quickly, Dean looked back towards the cop he punched and he punched the cop again, knocking the man out before he looked back towards Riley, seeing her finally knocking out the other cop. "Not bad," Dean commented. "You pack a mean punch."

        Riley released a laugh and she looked towards him, smiling. "I'm tougher than I look, Winchester. And I'm not gonna lie, that was pretty damn hot. You aren't so bad after all, Dean," Riley stated, still smiling. Dean smiled back at her slightly, shaking his hand that he used to knock out a cop. "But don't think this will keep me from saying anything rude to you sometimes," Riley added on in a slight joking tone.

        Dean let out a chuckle, shaking his head. "Wouldn't dream of it."

        Back inside the shop, Sam and Selena both were struggling to keep themselves standing upright, both of them dropping to the ground on their knees in front of two different mirrors, the two of them slightly apart from each other. Sam's reflection spoke to him, its tone sounding demonic and like he himself. " _It's your fault. You killed her. You killed Jessica. You never told her the truth, who you really were. But it's more than that, isn't it? Those nightmares you've been having of Jessica dying, screaming, burning. You had them for days before she died. Didn't you?! You were so desperate to ignore them, to believe they were just dreams._ " Sam's eyes dripped more blood and he continued grasping at his chest, still struggling to breathe correctly. " _How could you ignore them like that?_ " his reflection asked him. " _How could you leave her alone to die?! You dreamt it would happen!_ "

        Meanwhile, Selena's eyes were dripping blood just about as much as Sam's eyes were. She was struggling to breathe but instead of holding her chest like Sam was doing, she was holding her head with both of her hands, gasping and panting loudly as she tried to breathe normally. " _You knew he wanted to leave_ ," her reflection told her. " _You didn't pay attention to him. You ignored him and he died. You caused your sister to hurt more than she should had_." Her reflection smiled down evilly at her as she held onto her head, feeling so much pain. " _You allowed her boyfriend, the man she loved, to die!_ " Selena couldn't take it anymore. She didn't hear the sound of Dean and Riley running towards the back of the shop where she and Sam were located, didn't hear them screaming her name and Sam's. She released a shrieking scream, everything made of glass breaking simultaneously as her power of telekinesis manifested itself into something else because of her great distress.

        As Selena began to scream and the glass inside the shop began to break, Dean and Riley shielded their faces from flying little shards of glass as they ran through the shop, occasionally dodging the glass chandeliers that were falling from the ceiling. They got a few cuts here and there but nothing too serious. When they finally reached the back of the shop, Selena had finished screaming and all the glass had been shattered, Sam's breathing and Selena's breathing returning to normal as they sat where they were weakly. Dean sprinted over to Sam while Riley sprinted over to Selena, both elder siblings worried about their younger sibling.

        Dean bend down onto the floor in front of Sam, grabbing onto Sam's face. "Sam, Sammy!" Hearing Sam mumbled  _it's Sam_  to him, Dean calmed down a little bit. He looked at the blood that had dripped down Sam's face from his eyes. "God, are you okay?" That looked like it really had hurt. He hoped that he was okay. Whatever Selena had just done, he was happy she had done it or Sam would had been a goner. He was unaware that Selena would had been a goner, too.

        "Uh, yeah," Sam answered weakly. He attempted looking over at Riley and Selena but Dean was preventing him from doing so because he was still holding his face. "...Is Selena? Is she..?" Sam was struggling to get his words out as he tried to recover from what had happened. He had been lucky when none of the shards of glass pierced his skin when Selena's power went wild but right now, he didn't care about his own injuries. He wanted to know if Selena was alright. He hadn't heard or even paid attention towards anything else but his reflection when things went down so he was unaware of her having been in his situation. He, however, had been aware of everything breaking and it was the reason why he was worried about her so much at the moment.

        Dean looked over towards where Riley and Selena sat, watching as Riley held Selena's face in the same manner as he had with Sam. Sam weakly looked over towards the girls as Dean's hands dropped from his face and they both felt dread when they saw the blood running down Selena's face, both of them learning that Selena had been in the same boat as Sam. "Son of a bitch," Dean muttered as he watched the sisters, placing a hand to his face.

        While Dean had been making sure Sam was alright, Riley had been making sure Selena was alright. She had dropped to her knees quickly and she helped Selena sit up straight, removing her from her slouched over position. Her eyes widened as she noticed the blood on her face, noting that the blood had streamed down from her eyes. "Oh, God, Selena," she gasped out, surprised that this had occurred. She placed her hands on Selena's cheeks, turning her head slightly as she examined her face. She smiled sadly as tears filled her eyes, her now realizing why Selena hadn't wanted to stay in the shop earlier. "Oh, Selena," she whispered. "Why didn't you just tell me you had a secret? I wouldn't had left you in here."

        Selena released a whimper. "I'm sorry." She hadn't wanted to reveal it at the time.

        "It's okay," Riley assured. "You're okay so it's fine. It's absolutely okay." She sniffled as a tear ran down her cheek. "Just try to avoid keeping secrets from me from now on, okay?" Selena nodded gently and Riley pulled her into a hug, making sure not to hold her too tightly. When she released her hold on Selena, she looked over at Dean and Sam to see that they both were looking towards them. "She's okay," she stated loudly. She almost smiled more when she noticed the relief on both brothers' faces but she didn't.

        Riley stood up and she began to help Selena stand up, Dean doing the same with Sam. Dean had wrapped one of Sam's arms over his neck while Selena just leaned against Riley for support as Riley wrapped an arm around her waist. Both pairs of siblings approached each other and began to silently leave the shop, heading away from the back area. However, when they heard the sounds of glass cracking, they all stopped moving and turned around to see Mary crawling on all fours from the broken mirror. Mary removed herself from the floor, walking towards them with her head tilted, her black hair hanging over her face still, and she was swinging her arms as she moved closer to the four of them.

        The four hunters began grunting, all of them bleeding from their eyes now as they dropped onto either their back or their knees. Dean, while in pain from what Mary was causing to him and the others, looked to his right and saw that one of the mirrors was only half shattered, a large shard of glass still connected to the mirror's frame so he picked it up and he pointed it at Mary. Mary stopped walking as her reflection appeared in the shard of glass, tilting her head up as her reflection remained as it always had been. " _You killed them_ ," her reflection hissed at her. " _All those people! You killed them!"_  Mary began to choke, soon dissolving into a pile of blood on the floor.

        Dean released his hold on the mirror, tossing it to the side and causing the remaining shard to break into smaller pieces. He looked around at everything that was broken, especially the mirrors. "Hey, Sam?" he asked weakly. Sam looked over at him. "This has got to be like, what, more than six-hundred years of bad luck?" Sam chuckled weakly, shaking his head the slightest bit. Dean released a grunt as he looked over at Selena, seeing her wiping her cheeks and panting heavily. "...You okay over there, Selena?" She nodded, not looking towards him and this caused him to frown. He looked over at Riley last but before he could ask, she was already giving him a thumbs up...

**~January 20th, 2006; Toledo, Ohio~**

        Outside of the motel they had been staying in together, the four hunters stood by the Impala in awkward silence. None of them wanted to be the first to speak up, knowing that this could be goodbye for a while once again. Despite the circumstances, this case had been the most decent out of all the cases they worked together. They had more pleasant moments than bad, somewhat, and they all seemed to had grown closer to one another at a small level. And if they were to go separate ways once again, from what Riley had stated, she and Selena would be helping the Winchester brothers from a distance with the situation about whatever it was that killed Jessica and their mother (although, both sisters were unaware of the fact that the creature had killed their mother as well). So, technically, even though they'd be apart, they'd still be working together, sort of.

        Growing tired of this awkward silence, Dean was the one to speak up first but he didn't say goodbye. He avoided saying it altogether. Instead, he spoke of something that he had been curious about since they left the antique shop. "So, Selena, what the hell happened back there? What the hell had made you go all Super Sonic?" He knew it had to have been Selena that caused it but he wasn't sure how the hell she did it. He knew it couldn't had been Sam and it definitely couldn't have been Mary because why would Mary break the mirrors in which she had been living within all that time? She wouldn't had, even if she was able to. And he wanted to know if Selena had been holding back on some of the talk about her powers cause that shit didn't seem anywhere close to being telekinesis or any of the other powers she mentioned.

        Selena shrugged, rubbing her left arm as she stared at him. "I can't really say what that was, Dean. I have never done such a thing before." She tilted her head as she began giving an intelligent guess. "I suppose that when I became very distressed from what Mary was executing, my powers activated on their own and they were amplified to protect me from death. 'Least, this is what I believe to be true. There really isn't any other reason why this could have occurred, other than that." She rubbed her head slightly with her free hand. "But the fact of the matter is that I am entirely fine and I honestly don't care about what I did back there. If anything, it kind of scared me because I have never believed myself to be capable of doing something such as that."

        Sam nodded. "You know, that never would had happened if you had told us about your secret." Selena made a face at him, causing him to laugh. "Sorry. I was just saying that you wouldn't have gotten scared of yourself if you just had let us know about you having a secret. You could've stayed in the car while we dealt with everything. We wouldn't have risked you getting killed."

        Selena shook her head. "You probably would have died if that had happened." She rubbed the back of her head. "I will admit that I hadn't wished to stay inside the antique shop after you summoned Mary but honestly, there really was no turning back from that. And it made matters worse with the fact that I still do not very much like spirits. She was rather...creepy." Sam chuckled, nodding in agreement.

        "She was something out of  _The Ring_ , that's for sure," Riley commented. "The way she was crawling out of the mirror, just like that girl climbed out of the television in the movie I just mentioned." She made a face. "I really liked that movie. Not anymore, though. I see a copy of any of those movies ever, I'm burning them."

        Dean chuckled at that. "That doesn't sound like a bad idea."

        Riley cracked a smile as she looked at him. "Mmm. You know, I am very surprised that you aren't freaking out over our powers anymore. It's like you got over that quickly." She gestured with her hands as she continued. "You had spoken so nonchalantly, asking Selena about what happened back there and there was absolutely no fear in your eyes whatsoever like the last time you saw one of our powers."

        "I did not freak out and I wasn't scared," Dean denied. He leaned against his car. "I just haven't come to terms with all of it yet. But, uh, seeing as it helped save Sam, and Selena, I kind of like the whole...telekinesis thing. It's, uh, kind of cool, I guess." He was being a bit awkward about it, yet he was saying that everything was cool and fine. So far, that was the only power he liked that either of them had. Because it helped save Sam. That's the only reason. Other than that, he was just going to have to get use to the idea of the whole powers thing. Still. Probably be a while before then but he could get use to it, probably.

        Selena smiled in amusement as she shook her head. After a moment, her smile faded as she became serious. "How is the hunt for your father going?" she asked. "Have you found him at all? Or are you still searching for clues as to where he could be?" She recalled that their father was missing in action, him being off the grid. She was hoping to hear some good news about it but by the looks on their faces, she knew that the news would be bad or at least negative.

        "What?" Riley questioned, confused as hell. "Your father is missing?" she questioned the brothers, staring at them questionably. She didn't wait for an answer, throwing her arms up in the air. "Why am I the last to know everything, goddamn it?!" And now, she was willing to help them look for him, too. She couldn't just help them with a demon or whatever that killed a lover and just not help them with finding their dad. She couldn't do that. She wasn't that big of a bitch.

        Sam shook his head at Riley's reaction, his attention focused on Selena. He spoke honestly, letting her knew exactly what was going on. He didn't see a need for there to be any secrets between them that weren't exactly personal. "The trail we were following has gone cold. Been cold for a while now and we're just hunting until something comes up again, whenever that is." He didn't bother mentioning, however, that in their last hunt together, he and Dean had learnt that John had turned his phone back on but hadn't been returning their calls.

        Selena frowned. "I hope you have better luck with that soon. And I hope no harm has come to him." She hoped that the brothers wouldn't lose their father to the supernatural like she and Riley had lost theirs. She hoped that they'd find them soon and she certainly wouldn't mind helping them find him but she wouldn't know where to look. It would be out of luck for their father to be found because no amount of research was going to reveal his location. When no one spoke up, Selena spoke again, being the first to state a goodbye out loud. Kind of. "I suppose this is where we each say goodbye to each other and hope for the best. I mean, I'll assume that we'll still be communicating through our phones because of our helping you with finding this certain creature, but, uh..." She was losing her train of thought. "I do not like goodbyes. They are quite difficult," she stated bluntly and flatly.

        Dean nodded in agreement with her last statement. Goodbyes were difficult. But he still wasn't planning on saying goodbye. "Actually..." he started hesitatingly, getting his words out slowly. "About what Riley had said, with the whole you two helping us out thing, I, uh..." He was really, really struggling to get his words out. He sighed and threw one of his arms up in the air, frustrated. "I don't mind if you two tag along behind us!" he blurted out loudly. "There. I said. Happy?" he continued, still speaking loudly but not as loudly.

        Riley let out a laugh and she smirked at him. She took a few steps forward until she was standing right in front of him and she lightly pushed him via his left shoulder. "I knew it. We're growing on you." Just by the way he had been acting, she had known that this was what he was going to say. She knew that he would be giving them permission to follow them on the road. And she was very happy about that because that meant spending more time with them in between hunts when they weren't driving their cars around aimlessly.

        "Are not," Dean denied. Riley rolled her eyes at him and turned around, walking away from him as she headed to her car. She had long put all of her things back into the car so she didn't have a need to enter the motel room again. The brothers, however, would need to go inside to get Charlie and some gear they left behind. Before Selena walked away from them, she gave Dean and Sam a hug each, both of them lasting a little bit longer than a few seconds. When she skipped away from them and towards Riley's car, Dean looked away from the sisters and he looked towards Sam, who was staring at him with a smirk. "What?"

        "They're growing on you," Sam stated, echoing what Riley had said.

        Dean looked away from Sam. "Shut up, Sam." He started heading up to their motel room, grumbling as he went while Sam followed behind him, laughing. Riley and Sam both were right. The Grant-Piers sisters were beginning to grow on him. He was starting to connect with them a bit more, in some way, and the fact that the two of them were so willing to help them out with their situation was a blessing in disguise. Maybe with their help, they had better chances of finding and beating whatever it was. He had to admit that the four of them made a really great team. Sometimes.

        As Dean and Sam headed into the motel room to gather some of their things and to get Charlie, Riley and Selena sat within their vehicle, waiting. In the backseat, a soaked black tarp was laying on the seat, Riley having placed it on the car before it had began to rain. It actually was truly amazing how her car had survived multiple outbursts of rain showers. Seriously. While some of the leather seats were damaged from previous little storms, the car still looked pretty good to Riley. As they waited silently for the brothers to leave the motel, Riley looked over at Selena as a thought crossed her mind. "I never asked you what your secret had been. Can you tell me?" When she saw Selena hesitate to speak, she continued. "You don't have to if you don't want to. I'm just curious is all. We've seen a lot of deaths of innocents and I was wondering which one she was holding you responsible for. Clearly, it was something I had no knowledge of because it was secret. I'm sorry that I'm blabbering again. Tell me, please?"

        Selena looked over at her and her eyes became a little misty. Oh, what was Riley going to say when she learnt what had happened? She hesitated more, not really wishing to speak of it but she didn't wish to hide it from her anymore either. "...It was my fault that Brian died," Selena started. Riley looked at her confused, opening her mouth to speak but Selena raised her hand and covered Riley's mouth. "You wished to know so I am telling you. Do not speak until the end." Riley nodded and Selena removed her hand from Riley's mouth. "...I hadn't told you everything when you had awoken that morning. I had spoken with him sometime before he left, you see. I knew that he wanted to leave the house and I had told him not to, even went as far as to explain that he should be there for you because of what had happened and he seemed to agree at the time." Her eyes became more misty and tears began to stream down her dry blood covered cheeks. "I did not pay him any mind after that. I was stupid to believe that he would listen to reason and he snuck out without my knowing. I realized too late that he had left, this happening sometime before you had woken and we soon found him dead in that truck. I am glad you did not see what I had caused to occur to him. It was horrible and it was all my fault. I made you lose someone else you loved."

        Riley stared at her, not believing what she was hearing. Is that really what Selena thought? That is had all been her fault? She has felt that way all this time and never said anything about it until now? As Selena waited for Riley to yell at her or to agree with her, she was confused and surprised when Riley did the exact opposite. "That's bullshit," Riley blurted out. "No, I refuse to believe that, Selena." Selena was confused because she thought that Riley didn't believe what she was saying. "Mary was wrong as hell to hold you responsible for his death," Riley continued, making Selena's confusion vanish. Riley did believe her but she didn't believe that it was her fault. "What happened to Brian was not your fault at all. You were emotional from Dad's death so you weren't exactly thinking about what was logical and what wasn't. You weren't entirely focused. It was that demon bitch, she's the one to be blamed. Not you, Selena. So just stop blaming yourself over something like that. It's been two years. I'm over what happened to him and I hope that bitch is having fun in Hell where she belongs." And she couldn't wait for the day where she could kill the bitch instead of just sending her back to Hell again.

        Selena didn't know what to say to that. She had absolutely no words. Riley didn't blame her for what happened. She believed that it was unintentional, which it was. Maybe Riley was right and perhaps she had just been guilty about everything for nothing. She felt like how Charlie had felt about her ex-boyfriend killing himself. She had placed the blame on herself because she was the last one to see him, to speak to him. As she wiped her tears, she smiled to herself at just how awesome her older sister was. "Riley?" she called gently. Riley nodded, waiting for her to proceed as she stared at her still. "Let's help the Winchesters kick the world's ass some more." Riley looked at her, amused and surprised that Selena, of all people, had said that. Releasing a laugh, she nodded in agreement as she looked away from her, spotting the Winchesters getting into their vehicle with Charlie. Once they drop her off, the four of them would be heading onward towards a new destination together and the sisters couldn't be happier...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trivia:
> 
> 1) Episodes excluded from this book are: Home and possibly Something Wicked. Other than these two, there will be a chapter for the other episodes and there will be a few more original chapters in between.
> 
> 2) I apologize if I, too often than not, repeat feelings over and over again but I mainly do that on purpose so that it stays in mind, for you and myself. Secondly, I apologize if the conversation actions seem to be too similar to each other when I describe them but I describe it as how I imagine it or see it and it's usually the same stuff, just different words and location used. I'm honestly doing my best with this and I'm having a lot of fun with it as I continue to try and keep everyone in order, as well as my original plot-line for the sisters (it's not a large plot-line, but a small little sideline plot-line that actually focuses more on Selena than Riley because of the Immortal Beings species that I made up; btw, you can use this species in your own fanfics as long as you give me credit for the idea, and I probably mentioned this [this is why I always write things down because I tend to forget shit] before but I mentioned it again anyways).
> 
> 3) This fanfiction series was inspired by a variety of fanfictions for Supernatural. Spiderlingo can be found on Wattpad, her fanfiction series following the lyrics to "Carry on Wayward Son". Then, on fanfiction.net, there is poopiratelass with her fanfiction "Get It While You Can", belladonna78 with her fanfiction "Highway to Hell" and the fanfics that follow behind it, wimsicalpan with her fanfiction "Kiddy Corral", and lastly, phoenixwritesSPN with her fanfiction "Elastic Heart" and the fanfics that follow behind it. Finally, on Quotev, the one that you'll miss afterwards with her fanfiction "Luminous Darkness" and the fanfics that followed it. There are other fanfictions that inspired this one but I just can't list them all.
> 
> 4) Remember, when attires aren't mentioned, person is wearing the attire they were last seen in. Sorry for the long wait, whomever is actually reading this long ass story.


	10. Skin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean Winchester, Riley Piers, Sam Winchester, and Selena Grant are travelling together, sort of. There are some upsides and downsides to this fact. The upside, the four hunters get to bond a bit, at the very least, and become friendlier with each other, somewhat. The downside, it makes room for potential weaknesses. On a side note, there is a shifter on the loose and nothing good can come out of this mess. Right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Original and Unoriginal Content/Dialogue, Errors of Any Kind, Long Chapter Ahead, Unoriginal Not-So-Important Character Introductions, Difficulty With Some Descriptions of Character Appearances/Scenery, Possibility of Incorrect Information/Out-of-Character Moments, Low Possibility of Unrealistic Actions or Reactions, High Possibility of Realistic Actions or Reactions, Scenes From Episode Are Missing, Changes Were Made to Episode (Placement of Buildings or Objects May Be Different to Better Fit Within Chapter, Layout of House May Be Different, Etc.), Violence, Gore, Attempted Sexual Assault (Very Minor), OCS Wearing Same Outfit From Previous Chapter (Adding This From Now On, Probably Not Really, Though I Will Write A Little Info On The Outfits Still This Time Around If OC Is Fumbling With Their Clothing; Won't Do This All The Time, Though, Or Probably Won't Do It Anymore At All, Honestly)
> 
> Not including the Prologue, this fanfiction will have Twenty-Six Chapters. Just thought you'd like to know this information. On another note, Riley and Selena will be showing another power of theirs. Well, Riley is showing off her final power which is shapeshifting into a canine; thought it would be perfect for this chapter because shapeshifter. With Selena, you'll just have to wait and see which elemental power she'll be using this time around that isn't water. Also, keep in mind that you won't be seeing Selena's elemental powers very often as her power of telekinesis. With Riley, you'll be seeing more of her pyrokinesis than her ability to shapeshift but her shapeshifting will be seen slightly more often than Selena's powers over the elements. And as for how powers go, Selena's telekinesis and Riley's pyrokinesis will strengthen over time because as you saw in the previous chapter, Selena has a lot of potential. As a side note, I am obsessed with the song that is featured in the lyric portion below (so obsessed I had it on loop for more than ten hours each day for, at least, four days straight) and on a different side note, I struggled so hard with making this chapter so I do apologize if anything in the warnings above are actually shown within this chapter (warnings like errors, out of character moments, any warning similar to those two warnings because this was kind of difficult to make, considering it took me about three weeks to even get past the first two scenes -_-).
> 
> Nina Dobrev as Selena Grant  
> Hayden Panettiere as Riley Piers

_I don't wanna be a freak show pretty boy anymore_  
_I don't wanna be a full time slave_  
_I don't wanna be your midnight cowboy anymore_  
_I just wanna be Mary_

_(Mary : The Death Riders)_

* * *

**~(Approximately) Between February 28th-March 7th, 2006; Somewhere Near Tucumcari~**

        Dean Winchester eased the Impala into the pump of a gas station, cutting the engine before leaning forward onto the steering wheel a bit as he looked through the windshield more. In the passenger's seat, Sam Winchester was looking at his PalmPilot (or PDA in other terms), reading through some emails that he had gotten from friends. In the backseat, Selena Grant was leaning against the side door to her right, her eyes on everything occurring outside of the vehicle. Behind the Impala, Riley Piers' Audi pulled up and she cut the engine of the car, leaning back in her seat momentarily as she released a sigh. The four of them had been traveling together for approximately forty days and occasionally, Selena would ride with the brothers and that was the reason why she was currently in the backseat of the Impala instead of the passenger's seat of Riley's death machine. Additionally, none of them had come up with any information towards how John Winchester would be found or how to find the creature that killed Jessica Moore (Sam's love) and Mary Winchester (Dean and Sam's mother); it was just dead end after dead end for both occasions.

        "Alright," Dean spoke up. "I figure we'd hit Tucumcari by lunch, then head south, hit Bisbee by midnight." He looked over at Sam, not getting a response from him as Sam continued looking down at his PDA. Dean looked towards the back where Selena was sitting and noticed that she wasn't really paying attention either, stuck in her own little world at the moment as her head tilted to the side ever so slightly while she stared at everything in the area. Dean looked back towards Sam, staring at him. "Sam wears women's underwear," he mumbled, seeing as no one was really listening to him. He'd have better chances of Riley listening to him if she were in the car with them because she never really shut up sometimes, silence being something she couldn't stand.

        "What the hell kind of conversation did I just walk into?" Riley questioned as she appeared at Dean's side of the Impala, scaring the living shit out of him. His reaction caused her to release a laugh as he glared at her. "Keep your pants on, Winchester. It's just little ol' me." She had exited her vehicle and obviously had approached Dean's car as Dean had tried to speak with Sam and Selena. "So, Sam wears women's underwear or were you just casually saying that? 'Cause I'm sure that would hurt like hell, depending on the underwear," Riley stated, half-smirking.

        "I don't wear underwear for women," Sam commented as he kept his gaze on his PDA. "I've been listenin'," he informed Dean seconds later as Dean looked towards him, along with Riley. "I'm just busy," he continued. Busy with checking some  _important_  emails. Well, some of the emails weren't really important but some of them were, sort of.

        "Busy doin' what?" Dean questioned him, looking over in an attempt to see what Sam was doing. He was unable to see anything at all because Sam immediately turned the PDA away from Dean, not wanting him to know about his business. Dean rolled his eyes and he looked back over at Riley, waving his hand as he gestured for her to move aside. Riley stepped away from the car as Dean opened up the driver's door, getting out of the vehicle (after unbuckling his seat-belt, of course).

        "Reading emails," Sam simply replied, not going into detail about it. It wasn't really Dean's, or anyone else's, business except his own. They didn't need to know anything that didn't involve them. He deserved some privacy, at least.

        Dean closed the driver's door and began walking around the car, heading over to the pump. Riley stepped towards the Impala and leaned over, looking over at Sam through the open window of the driver's side. "You're reading emails?" she questioned him, curious. "Why would you wanna do that? Who are you getting them from, anyways? Would've thought that being a hunter, you wouldn't have many people to message at all." She wasn't exactly aware of the fact that Sam had been going to college before the Jess incident. There was still plenty of facts that she didn't know about either brother, actually, but she'd learn them eventually, probably. Time would tell.

        "From my friends at Stanford," Sam told her, answering only her final question. He thought the answer to the second question was self-explanatory. He thought that she'd be able to figure out the answer on her own. He wanted to keep in touch with everyone. He wanted to still kind of have a life, even if he didn't really have a life anymore like he once had. He hadn't even planned on letting either of them know about this but what was the point in hiding anything from them? They'd figure it out anyways.

        Dean, finally on the other side of the car, took the nozzle from the pump, fumbled around with everything and placed the nozzle into the back of the car after fumbling around some more. "You're kidding. You still keep in touch with your college buddies?" As Dean began to fill the vehicle with gas, Riley was staring at Sam in surprise as she learnt that he had gone to college. What else was Riley unaware of? A lot of things, probably.

        "Why not?" Sam questioned, sounding like he was slightly offended by the question. He had the right to make and keep friends. He had a right to try and maintain some of his old life, even if it probably won't work out in the end.

        Dean moved from the back of the Impala, pump still in the vehicle, and he stopped walking once he reached Sam's side of the car, looking down at him as he began speaking again. "Well, what exactly do you tell 'em? You know, about where you've been, what you've been doin'?" He leaned back against the car, still looking down towards Sam. On the other side of the Impala, Riley was slowly snapping out of her surprise and in the back of the car, Selena was finally coming back into the world of reality.

        "I tell 'em I'm on a road trip with my big brother. I tell 'em I needed some time off after Jess," Sam revealed to Dean and Riley, not knowing that Selena was finally listening in on the conversation from the backseat. Not that it mattered because it was fine for anyone to be a part of the conversation, as long as anyone happened to be Dean, Riley, or Selena.

        Riley tilted her head as she thought about what he just stated. She nodded slowly. "That  _is_  basically what you're doing, I guess. Except now, you have Selena and I with you both." She didn't care about him having friends. It wasn't really any of her business who he talked to or who he didn't talk to. If she had a choice in the matter, she'd break his PDA because she didn't see the point of making and keeping friends when you'd just either lose them, forget about them, or never see them again.

        "Oh, so you lie to 'em," Dean responded to what Sam had said, completely ignoring the fact that Riley had replied to Sam. Riley leaned back up and glared at the back of Dean's head from across the vehicle. Riley didn't believe that Sam was lying, just maybe holding back the truth a bit. And still, Selena chose not to make a remark on anything that she was listening in on.

        "No," Sam denied, looking out the window to look up at Dean finally. "I just don't tell 'em..." He hesitated to continue for a moment. "...Everything." He wasn't lying, he was just avoiding telling the truth by telling half-truths. He wasn't exactly lying, really. Just... He was just half-truthing and half-not-expecting-everything-else.

        "Yeah, that's called lying," Dean stated as he continued looking down at Sam. "I mean, hey, man, I get it." He looked away from Sam, looking ahead towards the gas station. "Tellin' the truth is far worse." He, of all people, knew that because of a past experience he dealt with. One that he never planned on mentioning to Sam or the sisters ever. It was his business and just his business alone. No one else needed to know.

        "So, what am I supposed to do? Just cut everybody out of my life?" Sam questioned him as Riley and Selena remained temporarily forgotten. Selena still didn't speak a word as she listened in on the conversation while Riley shifted on her feet as she listened in, annoyed that she had been kicked out of the conversation. Dean shrugged and he looked back at Sam with a smirk-ish smile on his face. "You're serious?" Sam questioned. He didn't want him speaking to anyone else at all?

        "Look, it sucks," Dean started. "But in a job like this, you can't get close to people, period." Riley raised an eyebrow and she cleared her throat, causing Dean to look away from Sam and he looked across the car towards where Riley stood. She had her arms out and she gestured towards herself before gesturing towards the backseat, giving him a  _we still exist, bitch_  look. "With the exception of Riley and Selena because they're hunters too," Dean continued, sending a  _happy?_  look at Riley. She shrugged as she nodded, guessing that he was right about that reasoning. Hunters were more likely to bond and stick with other hunters than with civilians, mostly because of the similar backstory they all had with one another. However, it depended on the hunter 'cause some just didn't want to make friends while others did.

        Sam shook his head, looking back down towards his PDA. "You're kind of anti-social, you know that?" Dean just mumbled as he shrugged, looking back towards the gas station as he leaned back against the Impala again. Sam looked towards the driver's side, looking towards where Riley stood. "Riley," he called, making her lean down to look through the window again. She stared at him curiously and questionably, humming in response. "Wasn't that your reason for not wanting to be friendly with us?" he asked her, recalling something Selena had said to him at one point before currently. "You hadn't wanted to get close to us in case something were to happen?"

        Riley bit her lip for a second and she sighed, nodding shortly. Eh, what was the point in hiding it when he clearly knew the truth already? "Yeah, that would be correct, Sam. It's better to stay away from others so that it doesn't hurt so much when they are gone, you know? And for your information, I still don't wanna get close to ya both but I just wasn't about to let you two idiots deal with some bullshit alone. I may be a little anti-social myself nowadays but I'm not completely fucking heartless." She didn't ask but she did think about his question. How did he know about that? She couldn't recall ever mentioning something like that to him. But then, she glanced towards the backseat and sighed inwardly. Of course, Selena would reveal absolutely anything accidentally or otherwise; it was just in her nature to do so because she oh-so loved to talk about everything, considering she was very open-minded (if that was a correct word to describe Selena).

        "I'm not anti-social," Selena randomly commented as she finally spoke up. She was leaning slightly forward in her seat and her eyes were shifting around towards everything, unsure what to stare at. Her only reasoning for making a response was because she felt like she needed to. That and she still felt slightly out-of-touch with the world, her mind between fantasy and reality at the moment from her zoning out earlier. Talking a little was meant to help her focus on the real world again.

        Riley's eyes were still towards Selena and her eyes widened slightly as she came to the realization that Selena wasn't daydreaming anymore. "Ey, she's back in the world of reality at long last." She stopped looking into the car and she did exactly what Dean was doing, except just on the side of the car she was located at. "Yeah, we all know this, Selena. You like talking to absolutely everyone about absolutely everything. And you already seem close enough to these two knuckleheads as it is, which I still think is dumb because that just means you are in for a serious hurting when someone passes away suddenly." She released a sigh. "But what Dean had mentioned was correct. I suppose hunters do tend to become close with other hunters, depending on the person. I mean, I guess that makes sense. We're all dealing with some sort of bad backstory that lead up to this life." However, she was finding herself slowly becoming closer with the brothers and she was just feeling so many mixed emotions about everything regarding them. Had teaming up with them been a good idea?

        Sam continued reading through his emails and one email in particular caught his attention. "God..." he muttered to himself as he made a face of shock. Dean and Riley both moved from their positions against the Impala, both leaning down to look through the open windows of the Impala. Selena leaned up further in her seat, looking around Sam's chair to look over his shoulder. All three of them were curious about what had caught Sam's eye. Sam, feeling eyes on him, continue looking at his PDA and began explaining what he had read. Well, he explained who had sent the email. "This email from this girl, Rebecca Warren. One of those friends of mine."

        "Is she hot?" Dean asked as he looked towards Sam, looking away from the PDA. Of course that would be on his mind. When wasn't that on his mind? He sure loved the ladies. Especially the attractive ones. Basically, he was one to think with his downstairs head when it came to females, depending on the female in question.

        Selena looked over at Dean with a displeased frown. "I do not think that is the correct kind of question to ask him, Dean. You should be more concerned for what has occurred to Rebecca or someone around her." She didn't believe this to be a matter of asking dumb, unimportant questions. There were more important matters to be concerned about, such as if Rebecca was alright or if she had been harmed in any sort of way. Asking if she was hot was not important but clearly, it was important to Dean and he needed to get his priorities straighten out.

        Riley shook her head in disagreement with Selena. "No, Dean's got the right idea here, Selena." She stared at Sam, smirking. "Details, Sam. Is she hot? She is, isn't she?" Her priorities were just about as mixed up as Dean's. She wanted to know if Rebecca was attractive, completely unconcerned at the moment about the possibility of the female being injured or in danger. Man, she really needed to get laid soon; it's been so long since she got with anyone and she blamed Dean for that because he was forever invading her mind whenever she tried to think of someone else that was just as good looking. Oh, who was she kidding? She'd never find someone to be better looking than Dean and that sucked ass. Her sexual nature was changing, in a way, because of this.

        Sam completely ignored Dean and Riley, more concerned about the email he had gotten. He began to inform the three of them about what he just read, finally. Well, he began to explain further since he hadn't gotten much out of his mouth a few-several seconds ago. "I went to school with her and her brother, Zach. She says Zach's been charged with murder. He's been arrested for killing his girlfriend. Rebecca says he didn't do it but it sounds like the cops have a pretty good case." From what the email said, the cops had plenty of evidence that went against Zach but Rebecca was entirely certain that Zach hadn't killed anyone.

        "Dude," Dean started. "What kind of people are you hangin' out with?" Potential suspected murderers apparently, that's who. From what he heard, all that popped into his head was that Sam was hanging with the wrong crowd.

        Riley looked at Dean, raising an eyebrow. "You are really quick to judge, you know that, right?" Just from hearing that some guy possibly killed his girlfriend had made Dean instantly judge the kind of people Sam had been hanging out with before the whole return to hunting thing happened. With Riley, she didn't immediately jump to conclusions. She was actually quite interested in what the hell happened, regardless of if it was a case for them to deal with or not. Guy kills girlfriend but claims he didn't do it and his sister vouches for him; this could be interesting, no matter what the deal was. Dean glared at her in response to her remark, Riley just returning the glare with a smug look.

        Sam looked over at Dean, shaking his head. "No, man. I know Zach. He's no killer." He didn't believe for a second that his friend had killed someone. He didn't have the personality of someone capable of doing harm to someone else or to even himself. He was a good person, a good man. The cops had their facts wrong.

        Dean tilted his head to the side a bit as he looked at Sam. "Well, maybe you know Zach as well as he knows you." Maybe Zach was hiding things from Sam like Sam was hiding things from all of his friends. It was possible. Maybe Sam didn't know absolutely everything.

        "Dean," Selena began, catching Dean's attention. He resisted the urge to look away from her as she frowned at him. He had disappointed her yet again. "This is Sam's friend we are speaking of. If Sam strongly believes that Zach has not done harm, then he has not done harm. You can tell lots by one's personality and if one's personality is very bright with little negative activity, the person is incapable of causing such a horrid crime. Assuming that Sam and Zach were close when they were spending time together, I would say that Zach is being falsely accused and we should help Sam with helping his friend." She was on Sam's side on this. Come to think of it, lately she had been on Sam's side more than Dean's with a lot of things, even though she was mostly just neutral about matters and saw eye-to-eye with most things on both sides.

        Sam cracked a smile as he watched Dean look away wordlessly. Sam looked back towards Selena, smiling at her. "Thanks for the support, Selena." She smiled back at him and nodded. Sam looked back towards Dean, seeing that Dean had looked back at him. "They're in St. Louis. We're goin'." He wasn't going to let anything worse happen to his friends and he was going to fix what was made broken.

        Dean let out a chuckle and he shook his head as he stared at Sam. "Look, sorry 'bout your buddy, okay? But this does not sound like our kind of problem." He didn't think that they should go. He didn't see there being a need for them to do so, considering what he just stated. It just didn't sound like something they should be concerned with.

        "It is our problem," Sam insisted. "They're my friends." He wasn't taking no for an answer. He just wasn't. When someone they knew needed help, they needed to go help them. It was as simple as that.

        "St. Louis is four-hundred miles behind us, Sam," Dean argued. Sam shot him a look, staring at him for a few seconds with his puppy dog eyes. Dean looked away from him, looking anywhere but towards Sam. Was he really going to let Sam guilt him into doing this? He really didn't think they should because it would just be a large waste of time.

        Riley released a groan, growing tired of this conversation that just kept on going back and forth. Kind of like how her personality went when she couldn't make up her mind on whether or not to be nice to the brothers, mean to the brothers, or both. "Dean, suck it up." Dean looked at her in surprise and she glared at him, giving him a look. "Oh, don't you act all surprised. You should know me by now." She leaned back up, straightening her back and Dean did the same, staring at her from the other side of the Impala. "If you are gonna have such a huge bitch fit over this, I can take Sam to his friends and you can drive to wherever it was we were going with Selena. If Selena even wants to ride with your sulking ass, considering that she wants to help Sam's friends, too. I say that if Sam wants us to help his friends, then we're just gonna have to help his friends, goddamn it. It's technically his call to make, not ours since, well, they're his friends and not ours." Her look softened as she stared at Dean. "And it would be the right thing to do," she added in a slightly softer tone. Now, she was taking Sam's side on this, sort of, just like Selena.

        "I agree on some level with what Riley has stated," Selena commented from within the backseat of the Impala, still haven't moved a muscle from where she was currently sitting. She rubbed her throat as she came to realize that it was a bit dry and she unbuckled her seat-belt momentarily, moving to the other side of the car so that she could be closer to where Riley was standing. Riley looked down at her and Selena gave her a look, telling her exactly what she wanted without even speaking a single word.

        Dean groaned, everyone against him on this matter. He looked away from Riley, looking off into the distance as he thought about this. As he finally looked back towards where Riley had been standing as he finally made his final decision, he was surprised when he didn't see her standing there anymore and he looked around, spotting her approaching the gas station and he shook his head slightly, wondering why he had suddenly just panicked a bit. Not saying a word at all about the matter of Sam's friends, Dean went to the back of the car and removed the nozzle, placing it back on the pump and just before he entered the vehicle again, Riley was back with two bags and she handed one over to Dean without a word before she placed the other through the open window of the backseat where Selena was, heading over to her car afterwards. Unable to help himself with his growing curiosity as to what just happened, he glanced into the bag and spotted two bottles of Pepsi, a few twinkies, and some beef jerky. Finally getting into the car shortly after rolling his eyes, he handed the bag over to Sam as he looked into the backseat to find that Riley had spoiled Selena with a four-pack of Yoo-Hoo and several bars of dark chocolate. He pulled the car out of the gas station and headed in the opposite direction of where they had been previously heading, mumbling to himself as he whined about Riley's supposed attempted bribery while Riley's car followed behind his vehicle...

**~(Approximately) Between February 28th-March 7th, 2006; St. Louis, Missouri~**

        The four hunters stood outside of a huge two-storied house, standing in front of the door. Sam had already rang the doorbell and the four of them were now waiting for his friend to answer. Dean stood slightly behind Sam, Riley stood slightly behind Dean, and Selena stood slightly beside Dean but also technically behind him and Sam while being technically in front of Riley, the four hunters crowding up on the porch. After a short time, a young casually dressed blonde-haired woman, who was about the same height as Selena, opened the door and she smiled brightly at Sam the second her eyes laid upon him, her eyes lighting up just as brightly to match her smile. "Oh my God, Sam!" She was very happy to see him again.

        "Well, if it isn't little Becky," Sam teased as he greeted her. He had a smile on his face as well; he was really happy to see her again.

        Rebecca continued to smile at him. "You know what you can do with that little Becky crap?" She reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck as she stood on her tip toes, Sam leaning down slightly to be at her level as he hugged her back. "I didn't think that you would come here," she stated as she pulled out of the hug. Her eyes were so focused on Sam that she didn't realize that Dean, Riley, and Selena were with him. She was that happy about Sam being there that she just didn't notice them at all.

        Dean, realizing he wasn't going to get introduced by Sam to the very attractive Rebecca, took a step forward, leaning past Sam as he extended his right hand towards her. "Dean. Older brother," he introduced himself coolly, smiling at her. As he was busy staring at Rebecca, Riley was silently fuming behind him as she felt jealous that he flirted with absolutely everyone  _except_ herself and Selena. Selena, she could understand his reasoning cause she's too sisterly to be considered a love interest for either brother, but how could he resist her own looks, especially with her being constantly around him now? There had been that one time where they kind of flirted with each other but that had been it and it had ended as quickly as it had started, and Riley felt like she was getting absolutely nowhere with him. While the two of them were barely friends, she had hoped that something more would blossom between them and it hadn't. It was really beginning to aggravate her. Maybe they were just destined to be only friends and nothing more but that certainly wouldn't stop her from thinking about how attractive Dean was.

        Rebecca grasped Dean's hand, shaking it as she smiled at him kindly. "Hi," she sheepishly greeted.

        "Hi," Dean echoed, a smile on his face still. Although, the smile seemed more of a smirk by this point. He lowered his arm as Rebecca released his hand. At least he was refraining from actually flirting with her.

        Riley felt like vomiting, she was so disgusted. She just really hated seeing Dean flirting with other women, almost as if she were his girlfriend or something. Which she wasn't and she shouldn't be feeling so envious and yet, she was. But she knew that her liking him was just that, just her liking him a lot and nothing more. Maybe her liking of him was actually her lusting for him since she did like thinking about the two of them being in bed together. Perhaps that was why she was getting so worked up over it still. She cleared her throat and Rebecca looked over at her. Riley faked a smile; she was really great at doing that. "Hi there. Riley. Older sister of Selena," she greeted, mimicking Dean's introduction. She gestured to Selena who stood slightly in front of her, to her right. "Selena. Younger sister of myself. Shares a profound sisterly bond with Dean and Sam." Well, it was true; Selena was very close to the brothers, thanks to her personality.

        Selena nodded slightly towards Rebecca, smiling at her as Rebecca looked her way. "Salutations," Selena greeted. She could already tell by Rebecca's mannerism thus far that she was a very kind person at heart and that's what made her immediately like the woman. She hoped that the four of them would be able to help her and her brother with whatever this was exactly.

        Rebecca nodded and she continued smiling at everyone. "Pleased to meet you."

        Sam cleared his throat and caught the attention of Rebecca fully once again, getting straight to the topic of why he, his brother, and his friends were there. "We're here to help. Whatever we can do." He wasn't just going to stand around and allow his friend to rot in a cell for who knows how long when he didn't do the crime that he was accused of. They would get to the bottom of this, eventually. He hoped.

        Rebecca, though she still kind of had a smile on her face, sobered up and she stepped back. "Come in," she invited them, turning from them all and she started heading further into the house, with Sam and Selena right behind her. Dean, on the other hand, was a little ways behind them because Riley shoved pass Dean and knocked him into the door, following quickly after the others to avoid an argument with him that would had ensued. Dean, glaring at the back of Riley's head, almost closed the door angrily behind him but managed to close the door in a more gentle manner.

        "Nice place," Dean commented as his anger towards Riley quickly died down, his eyes gazing around at the interior decoration as he followed behind everyone through the dining room. Riley rolled her eyes as she listened to him compliment the house, though she was impressed by the wooden ten-seater table that they were walking by. While Dean and Riley both were interested in the things within the house, to an extent, Sam and Selena didn't pay any attention to the expensive objects as they followed behind Rebecca and listened to her response to Dean.

        "It's my parents'," she explained to Dean as she looked back towards where he was for a second before watching where she was going. "I was just crashing here for the long weekend when everything happened." She turned a corner and everyone followed behind her, still listening to her speak. "I decided to take the semester off. I'm gonna stay until Zach's free."

        "Where are your folks?" Sam asked as they continued through the little hallway.

        "They live in Paris for half the year so they're on their way home now for the trial," Rebecca explained further as the five of them entered the fancy kitchen. She completely missed the shocked look that appeared on Riley's face when she had mentioned Paris, though Riley shouldn't had been so shocked because of all the expensive shit she had just seen within the house. "Do you guys want a beer or something?" she asked as she moved to one side of the large kitchen table. Dean, Riley, Sam, and Selena walked to the other side of the table, standing across from her. She looked over at Riley and Selena. "Or some water, maybe?" She wanted to be polite to her friend and her newly made acquaintances.

        Dean thought it was a great idea, him loving beer so much, but Riley opened her mouth first before he even had the chance to speak up, shutting down the idea immediately. "No, but thanks anyways. I'm not thirsty," she gestured towards the brothers, "These two had plenty of Pepsi to drink earlier, and," she wrapped one arm around Selena as she moved to be close to her, "This little ray of glitter has had enough for one day. She's like a child with her love of chocolate beverages." She looked over at Dean and smirked when he looked at her, displeased. She looked back towards Rebecca. "So, tell us what happened with Zach." What was her take on the situation?

        Rebecca placed her hands on the table, looking down slightly before she looked up at all of them again. "Well, um, Zach came home and he found Emily tied to a chair. She was beaten up and bloody, and she wasn't breathing." Tears began to form within her eyes as she continued. "So, he called 911, and the police, they showed up and they arrested him. But, the thing is, the only way that Zach could've killed Emily is if he was in two places at the same time. The police, they have a video. It's from the security tape from across the street. And it shows Zach coming home at ten-thirty. Now, Emily was killed just after that but I swear, he was here with me, having a few beers until, at least, after midnight." Upon hearing this information, a look of dread immediately appeared on Riley's face and she turned her attention elsewhere as one creature immediately came into her mind, but she didn't want to think about having to deal with one of  _them_  again.

        "You know, maybe we could see the crime scene. Zach's house," Sam suggested with a shrug as he spoke softly to Rebecca.

        "We could," Dean agreed seconds later, though he said it hesitatingly.

        "Why?" Rebecca questioned, looking between Dean and Sam. "I mean, what could you do?" She looked over at Selena, who had been quiet this whole time, but Selena's eyes were on Riley, which made Rebecca turn her eyes to Riley instead. Riley was still sharing a visible look of dread about the situation and it got Rebecca wondering if she had been through this sort of experience before.

        "Well, me and Selena, not much," Sam stated. He looked over at Dean and gestured to Riley, who was standing in between Dean and Selena. "But Dean and Riley are cops." He had to lie. He couldn't tell her the truth out of absolutely nowhere. She'd probably think they were crazy, even if she was friends with Sam. It was best to avoid the truth and just continue on with the necessary lies. How else were they going to get to the bottom of things?

        Dean let out a laugh as he stared at Sam for a second. He looked over at Rebecca, seeing her staring at him, and he went along with the little lie. Except he made the lie worse by creating a bigger lie. "Detectives, actually," he told Rebecca, smiling proudly even though he wasn't really a detective. It was likely that he was just proud of his better lie.

        Riley, having snapped out of her dread for the time being, smirked as she removed her arm from Selena and lightly hit Dean in the arm as she continued smirking, her eyes on Rebecca. Thankfully, she had heard everything while she was dreading about everything. "Yeah. This guy and I are partners. We're like Agent Mulder and Agent Scully. Except far better." Or far worse. Their friendship went either way, good and bad. She kind of liked this lie, considering that the lie involved herself and Dean being partners of sorts. Thank you, Sam, for beginning the lie that Dean had made better and worse.

        "Really?" Rebecca questioned them. Both of them nodded in response. "Where?" she continued, curious as her tears began to go away. And apart from that, she was still curious as to if Riley had dealt with this before but she assumed she had because she was a detective.

        "Bisbee, Arizona," Dean lied quickly, not missing a beat. "But we're off-duty now." It was so easy for him to lie about anything and he was unaware of Riley smirking at him until he looked at her. He raised an eyebrow at her questionably and she just shook her head, winking at him before she looked back at Rebecca. Now, Dean was just confused again. He was getting really tired of the 'we're friends, we're not friends' routine Riley was going with. He really needed to have a word with her about that because it was finally beginning to get on his freaking nerves.

        Rebecca half-smiled as she looked away from Dean and Riley, looking down a bit. She smacked her lips before beginning to respond to this false information that she had been given, her eyes on just Sam again. "You guys, it's so nice to offer but I just, I don't know." She was just so unsure of what to do. Was it really okay for them to do that? For them to go to the crime scene? Well, Dean and Riley were  _detectives_  so she supposed it would be okay but she still just wasn't sure.

        "Beck," Sam started. "Look, I know Zach didn't do this. Now, we have to find a way to prove that he's innocent." If nothing else would convince her to go to the crime scene with them, maybe that would. In all honesty, they didn't really need her to go with them at all but since she was involved, they might as well have her involved in their work, even if it is only slightly. Plus, with her, they wouldn't have to break in.

        Rebecca looked between the four of them, glancing back and forth between them from left to right (starting with Selena, then Riley, then Dean, and ending with Sam). "Okay," she whispered. "I'm gonna go get the keys." She moved away from the table and she headed back the way the five of them had came from, turning the corner at the end of the short hallway.

        Dean walked around Sam, turning to face him after watching Rebecca walk away. He let out a whistle. "Oh, yeah, man. You're a real straight shooter with your friends." So much for Sam's little speech about not lying to his friends about anything. Half truths, his ass. Keeping back information, his ass. That right there had been a straight up lie and right to the girl's face. Sam needed to wake up and smell the coffee because he was a liar, not a truther. No ifs or buts about it, Sam was a liar.

        "Must we always lie to everyone about our intentions?" Selena spoke up, finally speaking again after a long while. She stared sadly at Dean, Riley, and Sam, and she caused the three of them to frown as they stared back at her. It was so easy for others to be influenced by Selena's emotional behaviors. "It makes me feel rather guilty." She hadn't even been the one to lie but she still felt guilty about the lie that had been spread. "Couldn't we had told her the truth? Perhaps she would have listened to us."

        Riley shook her head, disagreeing with Selena as she pat Selena on the head. No matter how guilty Riley was feeling right now about causing Selena to feel this way, she still didn't agree with Selena. Doing this was necessary for things to continue further ahead. "No, Selena. She wouldn't have been able to understand. She'd probably think we were all crazy. Just try to let it go. Lying is necessary for us to progress in our cases. It's how we save people. You'll get use to it." She sighed as she dropped her hand from Selena's head. "In a few more years." She hoped that maybe Selena would get a little less...naive as time went on but it seemed like she only got more naive as time passed. As much as she loved her little sister's innocence, sometimes she wished she wasn't so innocent hearted and innocent minded. It would make life as a hunter much easier for them all.

        Sam sighed as he looked away from Riley and Selena, his attention towards Dean. "Look, Zach and Becky need our help." He didn't care if he had to lie to help them out. They were his friends and they needed his help, their help.

        "I just don't think this is our kind of problem," Dean countered, shaking his shoulders as he shrugged. He didn't see this as having to do with anything supernatural. He only saw this as some guy going crazy, killing his girlfriend, and being stupid enough to get caught afterwards. Nothing more, nothing less. This was real world shit, not supernatural shit. Supernatural shit was more obvious than this, sometimes.

        "If I may concur with something," Selena commented, gaining everyone's attention once again. She stared at Dean as she spoke, explaining what she was thinking. "I very much believe that Sam has a right to be worried for his friends and I continue to agree that we should continue to attempt to help in any way we possibly can," she began. Sam smirked at Dean, giving him a smart look. Dean glanced at him and glared before he looked back at Selena. "Additionally, you are very much wrong, Dean Winchester, about this case. It is right up our alley," she continued, making the eyes of the brothers widen in surprise. She had not yet ceased to surprise them with her knowledge. "I am almost entirely sure as to what we are dealing with, just from hearing Rebecca explain what had occurred but I must see this tape she spoke of to be completely certain." She had the same train of thought as Riley had about what creature this was. Just a year before meeting the Winchesters, the two half-sisters had encountered something very similar to what they were currently dealing with but in a different kind of situation. In fact, they had encounter the specific type of creature on multiple occasions the past year, still before they had met the brothers.

        "You know what we're dealing with?" Sam questioned her. She already knew? Just with little information? Having her around was actually quite handy sometimes, depending on the matter at hand. Such as now, they didn't have to do much research into the situation if Selena knew exactly what they were dealing with. And it was tempting for Sam to tell Dean  _I told you so_  about this being their sort of thing but he refrained from doing so right now.

        Selena nodded as she looked towards Sam. "Yes, I believe so." She was almost certain of it. But she was going to refrain from revealing any information until she was certain that she was correct about all of this. She didn't want to say it and then turn out to be incorrect. She didn't exactly like being proven wrong, just like Riley hated hearing incorrect information.

        Dean threw out his arms, waiting for her to finally spill the details that he and Sam were missing out on. "Well, don't hold back. What is this thing?" He was growing impatient with waiting. He wanted to know what this thing was. He already felt a little grumpy from learning that he was wrong to assume this wasn't their kind of thing but now, he was just getting grumpier as he continued to wait for an answer. What was the creature? Just what the hell was it?

        Selena continued to avoid answering the question the way the brothers wanted her to. She really didn't want to tell them and turn out to be very wrong. She just wanted to be sure first and not embarrass herself in front of them. "I shall let you know once I have seen the footage of supposedly Zach. As I had said, I wish to be entirely certain." She had indeed told them that she wasn't fully sure about what she believed the monster to be. She was hoping that they would be patient with her until she got what she wished for. However, the only patient one about it was Sam, Dean having a very annoyed and frustrated look on his face as he stared at her but luckily, he kept his mouth shut about it. She turned her gaze away from him, looking down at her feet.

        Riley pat Selena on the shoulder, faking a smile as she stared at her. She didn't like that the topic had come back into play, having been distracted earlier by Selena's sadness but now, she was just, she didn't know what she was feeling at this point; maybe she was feeling a little dreadful again, anxious maybe, a little pissed off too, still kind of jealous about the little thing that Dean was having with Rebecca (if one could even call it a thing), and maybe every other emotion. Selena looked up at her, tilting her head to the side like she normally did whenever she was confused or curious. "Real glad to know that you and I are on the same track, Selena," Riley told her. But she wasn't glad at all because if Selena was on the same mind field as her, that meant this case was definitely involving  _those_  creatures. She pulled Selena into a sudden hug, squeezing her a bit too tightly since she wasn't in the right state of mind. Not only was Selena finding this behavior a bit odd and random but the Winchester brothers were finding it so as well; not too often did Riley show sisterly affection towards Selena openly but this was far from it, this seemed very forced.

        "You are squeezing me too tightly," Selena remarked, grimacing from the slight pain she was feeling from the tight unexpected hug. "Please, do release me from your hold before you break me in half like a twig." Not once did Riley ever hold her in this sort of way, not even when she nearly died several times. No, whenever she nearly died, all Riley would do was get teary eyed and she would yell at her to not scare her like that ever again before walking away, grumbling. This hug was incomparable to the other hugs the two of them shared, this one having been forced out of Riley for a reason unknown to Selena. As Riley finally released her a few silent moments later, Selena came to the conclusion that something wasn't right before coming to the second conclusion of perhaps Riley was uncomfortable with having to possibly deal with another Shapeshifter again for like a fifth time.

        Riley scoffed as she stared at Selena, not even bothering to hide her changed mood anymore. "Oh, so it's fine if Sam or Dean hug you but I'm not allowed to? Hmph. Whatever." She crossed her arms and she began to walk around the confused brothers and her half-sister in an angry manner as she headed towards the hallway that they had previously walked through. She had the urge to growl but she held it in. "I see how it is, Selena." She began to mumble profanities to herself as she walked down the hallway, leaving the brothers in their confused haze and Selena in her slightly surprised state. The brothers were confused because Riley didn't really act that way towards Selena in front of them, at least not often, and Selena was slowly getting over her surprise state as she acknowledged what she assumed was Riley's reasoning of doing what she did.

        "Is Riley alright?" Sam asked Selena after a second, looking towards her. His expression of confusion had become one of concern. "She seems a little...off." Because of Riley acting the way she had, he was assuming that something was wrong with her, such as maybe she was going through something.

        Selena looked towards Sam and she nodded slightly. "I believe that she is alright. She is merely going through a series of emotions right now because of what is occurring. If this is what Riley and I believe this to be, I understand why she acted as she had. It wasn't exactly a grand experience that we had endured with the creatures but that is a story for another time. Right now, simply ignore it. She won't appreciate you asking her too many questions about it." She didn't want to talk about the past experiences that Riley and herself had went through when they encountered Shapeshifters. That was something that needed to be shared at a later time because time was of the essence right that moment. She smiled slightly at both brothers before she walked around them, heading after Riley. The brothers looked at one another before they soon followed behind her, dropping the conversation topic.

        Within less than half a hour, the Impala pulled up across the street from a lovely, and large, household, the household being Zach's home where the murder of his lover had taken place. Yellow police tape sealed off the front entrance of the unoccupied home, supposedly keeping anyone from going into the house but that wasn't going to stop the hunters or Rebecca (or anyone that just happened to be thieves) from getting in. All the doors of the Impala opened, everyone stepping out of it at almost the same exact time; Dean got out of the driver's side, Sam got out of the passenger's side, and finally, the Grant-Piers half-sisters and Rebecca exited the backseat of the car, Selena getting out last because of being in the middle of Rebecca and Riley. The five of them stared at the house as soon as they had exited the car, not making any moves towards it just yet as they closed the doors of the Impala.

        Rebecca crossed her arms over her chest and she looked away from the house, looking towards Dean. "You're sure this is okay?" she asked him. She looked very anxious and just about as uncertain as she had been when they were back at her parents' home. She just didn't want to get into any sort of trouble for this. She didn't know if she would be off the hook or not, even with Dean and Riley being  _detectives_. She was merely having doubts because she was anxious and sadly, she was right to have those doubts because those doubts were true unbeknownst to her.

        "Yeah," Dean answered after a moment of hesitation. "I am an officer of the law," he added on, speaking with light sarcasm to not draw attention towards himself but additionally, he forgot to mention Riley as an officer of the law as well. But because of the sarcasm being light, Rebecca didn't notice the sarcasm at all and she didn't even seem to notice that he hadn't mentioned Riley. Dean looked away from her and began to walk across the street, heading towards the house. Rebecca, Riley, Sam, and Selena followed behind him quickly as people strolled down the sidewalk.

        After gaining the keys to the house from Rebecca, Dean unlocked the door and opened it. He stepped into the house after ducking underneath the police tape with Riley and Sam close behind him, Rebecca and Selena remaining on the porch. The walls and the furniture were smeared with dried blood, along with some random objects (playing cards, newspapers, etc.) that were just lying around on the floor and on the messy kitchen counter. Sam remained by the door while Dean and Riley both walked around a bit, both remaining close to the door but not exactly at it and not exactly near one another. Rebecca and Selena remained on the porch, neither of them making a move to go inside just yet for two different reasons opposite of each other (the two had a specific individual reason why they weren't entering).

        "Well, this isn't disturbing at all," Riley remarked sarcastically as she looked around the house. "Goddamn, the fucker went all out, didn't he?" She looked towards Dean and Sam as she stopped walking, finding both of them giving her a look. "What?" Instinctively, she looked towards the door they had walked through and saw Rebecca, and Selena, staring at her with wide eyes; Selena's eyes were wide because she was shocked that Riley said that and Rebecca's eyes were wide because she didn't expect a  _detective_  to say something like that. Riley looked away from the door, turning her back to everyone as she made a face of instant regret; she had totally forgotten about the detective lie, thanks to her mind being in the wrong state or she never would had stated that, out loud, otherwise. " _Shit_ ," she mouthed to no one before she turned back towards everyone, specifically Rebecca. "I'm very sorry for my unprofessional comment, but I'm off the clock right now so I'm not sorry for the fact that I can say what I want, when I want without having to hold anything back. To an extent. So, yeah." In reality, one could lose their job for having a loud mouth on them.

        As Riley had been talking, Dean had walked over to where she stood. When she finished speaking, he spoke to her. "Nice save," he muttered as he turned to face the door that Rebecca and Selena stood outside of. He hadn't said it in a normal muttering way, he had said it in a very sarcastic one. That was probably the worst save he ever heard and while it probably worked, he still didn't think that it was a good save. It was really becoming more clear to him that Riley was definitely not okay and he was actually kind of worried.

        "Fuck you too, Dean," Riley muttered back to him, looking at him and giving him a sarcastic smile before she looked back towards the open door, missing Dean's eye roll. It wasn't her fault that she slipped up. She wanted to believe that she had just merely forgotten that Rebecca was with them and that she had forgotten that they had given Rebecca a lie about something dealing with detectives but she knew that wasn't true at all. She hadn't purposely made the comment but it was definitely a mistake on her part and she wished she could be in a better state of mind.

        Sam looked towards where Rebecca and Selena stood, eyeing them. Rebecca was looking hesitatingly into the house, on edge even more after what she heard from Riley. Behind her, Selena was silently watching her with a look of concern and sympathy on her face. "Beck, you wanna wait outside with Selena?" Sam asked her. He knew, for a fact, that Selena wasn't going to allow Rebecca to be alone if she chose to stay outside. That was just how Selena was. That and he wasn't entirely sure if Selena would even want to come inside the house herself.

        Rebecca hesitated further but she shook her head. "No, I wanna help." She ducked under the police tape and entered the house. Selena wasn't too far behind her with that action. Rebecca placed her left hand to her mouth and her right hand on her left elbow as she looked around, tears beginning to form in her eyes. She hated being in there and with all this blood, she could only imagine how much Emily had suffered when she was brutally murdered. There wouldn't had been this much blood unless it was a brutal murder.

        Selena stepped beside Rebecca as Sam closed the door until it was cracked open. "You may hold my hand if you want," Selena told Rebecca as she held her hand out slightly towards her. Dean and Riley stood across from them, watching them but also looking around the room. Sam remained behind them. "I've heard that it helps calm the nerves sometimes, depending on the person and the problem," Selena continued. All she wanted to do was help Rebecca in some way, help her calm down a bit or just let her know that she wasn't alone in this mess.

        Rebecca stared at her for a moment, slowly grasping what Selena just told her. She wasn't exactly sure what to make of the comment. It didn't sound like some excuse for Selena to hold her hand. It sounded childish but also genuine. It sounded like Selena really just wanted to help her relax, even if it wasn't actually gonna work out the way she was hoping. Rebecca nodded slowly after thinking it over and she hesitatingly lowered her left hand, taking Selena's outreached hand. After a few seconds, she felt herself relax just the slightest bit and although she wasn't any much calmer, she still felt the urge to half smile at Selena's attempt to help but she didn't do so. "Thank you," she told Selena in a tone that was slightly above a whisper. Selena responded with a half smile.

        "What else did the police say?" Sam asked as he half smiled at the gesture he was witnessing. He glanced past the two and spotted Riley looking at some of the stuff that laid on the kitchen counter, the stuff being a police evidence number that was sitting right beside a picture frame, which happened to be spattered with dry blood like most of the place. The photo within the frame was of a dark haired man with a goatee, one of his arms extended forward that indicated the fact that he had taken the photo of himself and the beautiful woman that was located beside him; the photo was of Zach and Emily.

        Rebecca spoke tearfully as she looked towards Sam, watching him move around her so that she wouldn't have to strain herself to look at him, considering her hand was occupied within Selena's hand. "Well..." she started, pausing for a moment. Her eyes were glancing around the place. "There's no sign of a break-in. They say that Emily let her attacker in. The lawyers, they're already talking about plea bargain." She glanced around the room further and began to sob. "Oh, God..." Feeling Selena squeeze her hand in an attempt to comfort her, she turned towards Selena and laid her head on her shoulder.

        Selena placed her free hand on Rebecca's back, patting it slightly. "Shh," she hushed. "Think positively. Emily is in a much better place, no longer in any sort of pain. Zach will be freed once we have gathered the proof that we need and this will all work out in the end. I promise." Rebecca just let out what sounded like a whimper and she kept her head buried in Selena's shoulder. Selena continued to rub her back, but in a slightly more awkward manner.

        From where she was watching, Riley smirked and she looked over at Dean. She leaned closer to him and whispered so that only he could hear her. "I can only imagine how jealous you are, knowing that Selena is being groped instead of you." Obviously, in her mind, Dean was attracted to Rebecca and Riley could only assume that Dean was wishing that he was the one comforting Rebecca instead of Selena. But then again, he didn't really seem like the type to comfort anyone but still, Riley figured he was a bit jealous of the  _groping_  Selena was enduring. Plus, this thought made her temporarily forget about what was happening.

        Dean looked over at Riley, clear annoyance on his face. This emotion was becoming more and more natural for him to feel whenever he interacted with Riley. "That's the furthest thing on my mind right now, Riley," he responded in a low tone. No, what was on his mind right now was what the hell kind of creature were they dealing with. That and he was wondering what the hell was up with Riley with her going back and forth between being herself but then not being herself. Whatever she experienced couldn't had been that bad that it was making her be all over the place.

        "Sure it is," Riley told him, scoffing and rolling her eyes seconds afterwards as she moved away from him. Not jealous, her ass. Of course he had to be jealous, even if it wasn't exactly something to get jealous over. She really needed to stop assuming things sometimes.

        "Look, Beck," Sam spoke up, his eyes on Rebecca and Selena as he spoke softly. Rebecca removed her head from Selena's shoulder and she looked at Sam, tears streaming down her cheeks and more tears were forming in her eyes. "If Zach didn't do this, it means someone else did. Any idea who?" he asked her.

        Rebecca shook her head negatively, looking away from him for a moment before a look of recognition appeared on her face and she looked back up at Sam; she had remembered something that had occurred before the murder. "Um, there was something. About a week before, somebody broke in here and stole some clothes, Zach's clothes." As she explained, both Dean and Riley were walking around the house again, observing everything. "The police, they don't think it's anything. I mean, we're not that far from downtown. Sometimes people get robbed." Sam nodded shortly before he walked away from Rebecca and Selena, heading across the living room and walking by Riley, who was eyeing the dry blood on the wall with a grimace. The sudden sound of a dog barking and growling broke the silence that had followed after Rebecca had stopped speaking. Dean, having walked a full circle within the house and ended up by the cracked open front door, opened the front door and the neighbor's black dog came into view, the dog looking right at Dean as it continued barking loudly. Rebecca released Selena's hand (the hand holding wasn't really helping so there was no point in continuing on with it) and she turned towards Dean, stepping forward a few steps until she was right behind him and looking past him, looking at the dog. "You know, that used to be the sweetest dog."

        "What happened?" Dean asked as he stared at the barking dog.

        "He just changed," Rebecca stated as she shrugged, not sure why the dog had become the opposite of how he usually acted.

        "Do you remember when he changed?" Dean asked, continuing his questioning as he continued staring at the dog, the dog in which continued on with his barking. It actually was a bit strange how the dog was only now barking and hadn't been barking since the second they got there.

        Rebecca thought about it for a moment before she answered him. "I guess around the time of the murder," she answered as she stared at the dog herself. Dean looked towards her and began to turn so that he could walk away to speak with Sam but before he made a move to walk off, Riley had approached him and Rebecca. He was about to maneuver past Riley seconds later when he very quickly realized something that occurred only just seconds beforehand: the dog had stopped barking. Dean looked back towards the dog, only to find that the dog was sitting on his hind-legs and the dog was staring at Riley with his tongue sticking out as he panted, suddenly in a happy or perhaps playful mood. While Dean stared at the dog confused, Rebecca looked a little surprised by the sudden occurrence. "That was..." she began but she stopped, shaking her head as she tried to grasp what just happened. She looked over at Riley, opening her mouth before closing it and then opening it again, speaking once more. "How did you do that?"

        Riley was staring at the dog, a genuine smile on her face despite her mixed emotions for everything. She looked over at Rebecca as Dean looked towards her (Riley). "Ummm..." Riley couldn't exactly tell the truth as to why the dog had calmed down because of her so she opted for a less straight-forward way of revealing the reason. It would still be truthful but it would likely be taken in a 'dog person' kind of way, basically meaning Rebecca would not freak out. "Let's just say that I have a way with dogs and leave it at that. Do you know his name?"

        Rebecca nodded. "Pluto."

        Riley made a face and she almost let out a laugh. "Yikes, that's unfortunate," she commented. She always hated that name for dogs, though she wasn't sure why she hated it. She looked back towards the dog, Pluto, for a moment before she looked back at Rebecca. She pointed at her and then she looked at Dean, pointing at him, all while having a serious look on her face. "Do not make fun of me for what I'm about to do, alright?" Dean and Rebecca looked at her, both confused as to why she was telling them that. Riley stepped past them, ducking underneath the police tape as she stepped outside and she placed her arms on the fence that Pluto was located behind. She leaned forward and stared down at cute little Pluto with a smile on her face again. "Hi there," she greeted, gaining a happy bark from Pluto. "Do you like your name, Pluto?" she asked, Pluto responding with a whine and he lowered his head. Riley nodded, smacking her lips as Dean and Rebecca watched her. "Yep, I figured. I'd hate that name, too, if I had it. Kind of hate my own name, actually." She sighed and leaned over a bit more, reaching out one of her arms to pet Pluto's head, Pluto responding in a positive way to the petting of his head. "Only parents expecting a son would name their daughter Riley and that's exactly what my parents did. Sadly. But Selena loves my name so I guess it's fine." Pluto stood up from his hind-legs and licked Riley's face as he planted his front-legs against the fence. In response to the licking, Riley leaned back and laughed as she wiped her face. "Okay, I'll shut up. Sorry," she giggled out. "I like you, too. Now, you be a good boy," she continued after Pluto released another happy bark. She looked away from him, looking towards Dean and Rebecca who were both staring at her, still, in two different ways, one being an odd look (like what she did was weird as hell, this look kind of coming from both of them) and the other being a flabbergasted look (which only Dean had). "Not a damn word or I'll break your jaws," Riley stated blankly as she ducked underneath the police tape again and she reentered the house, moving past the two as she headed over to where Sam and Selena stood.

        Around the time that Riley had walked over to where Dean and Rebecca were standing (before the dog chat had taken place), Selena had headed over to where Sam was standing in the kitchen. She tilted her head as she noticed him staring at a photo of himself, Rebecca, and Zach that was pinned on the refrigerator. She didn't say anything to him but she did lightly wrap her arms around his right arm, laying her head against said arm. Sam cracked a smile as he allowed Selena to do whatever it was she was doing exactly. "...How are you holding up, Selena?" Sam asked after a moment. Selena lifted her head from his arm, tilting her head as she looked at him, confused by what he was asking. He looked at her and thought about rephrasing his words but decided to explain what he meant. "You haven't used your telekinetic power since the Bloody Mary incident. I was just wondering if you were okay and if..." He trailed off but the unsaid message was clear: he was wondering if Selena was terrified of her powers after what had happened when she got out of control unintentionally.

        A smile slowly appeared on Selena's face and she slightly tightened her grip on his arm. "I assure you that I am quite okay. I just have not had a reason to use my abilities lately. And I am aware of what you had wished to say but had refrained from saying. I am not afraid of my abilities but I am afraid of what I am capable of. However, I do not believe that the...occurrence will happen again, thereby meaning that there is nothing either of us need to worry about regarding that topic." She didn't think that she would lose control again like she had when she was nearly killed by Bloody Mary but she was aware of the possibility of it happening again. The plus side to her having lost control during that one case, she had saved herself and Sam while also unintentionally scaring herself but regardless of that one good thing, she didn't want it happening again and she was mentally praying that it never would happen again like she had been hoping out loud.

        Sam sighed and shook his head slightly, frowning. "Selena, we can't be sure of that. We don't know what could happen." He couldn't help but be more worried about it, now that she was talking like there was no possibility of a re-occurrence of the occurrence. He didn't like the thought of her losing control and becoming scared all over again.

        Selena frowned back at Sam. "I know, Sam," she admitted. "I am just as aware of that fact as you are but I would much rather pretend that I won't freak out again. I do not like the thought of inadvertently causing harm to you, Dean, Riley, and anyone else who could possibility be around when my next unstable episode occurs. As far as I am concerned, I just need to avoid anything that could cause such a thing to happen again and I'll be fine." She released her hold on Sam and she looked away from him, still frowning. "Although, it will be hard to avoid such things when this life we are living is full of potential dangers. I suppose we can only hope for the best." She glanced towards Sam for a moment and half smiled at him before she looked towards her right, spotting Riley walking up to them with Dean a little ways behind her while Rebecca remained by the door, closing it almost completely.

        "Sorry to interrupt your newest bonding session but we got some new information," Riley remarked as she came to a stop in front of Sam and Selena, a frown on her face. She shrugged seconds later as the two stared at her. "Well, sort of. Actually, it's not exactly important but it's also kind of important, in a way, I guess. I don't know." She knew what was up with the dog somewhat, figuring it had to be close to the reason why she herself was acting a bit odd. In fact, some of her animal likenesses were coming out unwillingly and she could smell the scent of the shapeshifter that had been in that house, it smelling like death, gallons of blood, and rotten flesh. Normally, Riley could control her shapeshifting side but it tended to become hard to do that whenever another shapeshifter of some kind became involved in a case she was working on; it was like her inner Alpha was kicking in, her instincts telling her to find and put down the trespassing shapeshifter.

        Dean stopped walking once he was beside Riley and he didn't speak of what he just witnessed her do just yet, speaking on what he noticed before that had happened. "So, the neighbor's dog went psycho right around the time Zach's girlfriend was killed," he told Sam and Selena in a low tone, not wanting their conversation to be overheard by Rebecca, who was still standing at the door watching calm and playful Pluto.

        "Animals can have a sharp sense of the paranormal," Sam commented as he stared at Dean. Selena nodded in agreement, her eyes shifting away from Dean and towards Riley.

        "Yeah, maybe Fido saw somethin'," Dean agreed. He looked away from Sam and towards Riley, smirking a bit. Riley glanced towards him and she made a face, waiting for him to say whatever kind of remark he was going to say; she fucking knew he was going to say some shit to her about it. "Since you seem to be the dog whisperer, why don't you interrogate Pluto?" He was mocking and teasing her at the same time but either way, Riley didn't like it.

        Riley released a low growl that was inhuman, the growl sounding like something that would come from a wolf or even a dog. The noise itself caused Dean to take a step back from Riley cautiously and caused Sam's eyes to widen. "Fuck off, Winchester. I can do without your mockery." She crossed her arms and looked away from him, glaring at the wall. "The sooner we leave this house, the better. Hell, the sooner we get this shit done, the better. I don't like being out of control of my...everything." She wrinkled her nose, making a face of disgust. "Goddamn, this place reeks of that damn thing." She didn't chose to reveal that her and Selena's assumption was correct, wanting to wait to be even more sure because her nose could be playing tricks on her, somehow. Right now, all she really cared about was getting out of there and getting her feelings, and powers, under control again.

        Sam continued to stare at Riley but his eyes weren't wide anymore. Now, he was just curious. "Riley, what's your second power that you neglected to inform us about?" He had a hunch that it had something to do with animals after putting together the facts that Riley had growled, Riley could smell something that he couldn't smell, and Riley had talked to a dog that apparently understood her from what he assumed happened.

        Riley looked over at him, her glare remaining even though she wasn't really mad at Sam. "Thought it'd be obvious by this point, thanks to my sudden inability to control my urges. I shapeshift into canines, you jackasses. So if either of you mock me again, I swear to God, and Satan, that I'll rip your throats out and feed you to Pluto." Her arms dropped to her sides. "This is taking too long. I'm waiting in the fucking car before I blow our cover." She turned on her heels and immediately headed back to the front door, opening it after stepping past Rebecca and she ducked underneath the police tape once more, heading out of the house and eventually across the street to where the Impala was parked. 'Least she had the decency to realize that she might fuck shit up accidentally and willingly left before that could occur.

        Dean watched Riley as she walked away and he looked towards Selena. "What the hell kind of parents did you two have? What's next, she can breathe fire?" He brought a hand to his face as he tried to grasp the information he just learned. "This explains so much. She's a bitch. Like literally a bitch. I-" He sighed as he removed his hand from his face. "I need a drink after this." He still hadn't came to terms with the fact that his friends were a bit supernatural.

        "We should look at the security tape," Sam suggested. He wasn't bothered by Riley's revealed ability like Dean was. He was still far more accepting about the powers of the half-sisters than Dean was, anyways. He looked towards Selena. "Unless you changed your mind, considering..." Considering the fact that Riley had confirmed that she and Selena were right when she mentioned the smell of the creature. Well, right on two accounts, the first being that this was their kind of thing and the second being whatever creature the two had believed it to be. He was hoping that Selena would reveal this little secret now. There wasn't a point in her holding in the information anymore.

        Selena shook her head. "I still wish to see the tape. Riley's nose has failed her on a few occasions. She may have animal likenesses, or instincts in other words, but she's still human. She's not an expert with those skills and mainly, she chooses to keep that side of her under lock and key. We cannot rely on this power of hers fully. We must see this tape, just in case she and I are incorrect." Sam nodded, slightly disappointed that he didn't get the information he wanted to hear but he knew he'd hear it eventually.

        The two of them looked towards Dean and he looked back at them. He sighed and nodded. "Yeah," he agreed. He looked towards the direction where Rebecca was located and found that she was approaching them finally with her arms crossed over her chest. Surprisingly, she didn't question why Riley had exited the house without them. "So, the tape," Dean mentioned to her as she reached them. "The security footage, you think maybe your lawyers could get their hands on it 'cause I just don't have that kind of jurisdiction." Again, he didn't bother mentioning Riley.

        "I've already got it," Rebecca revealed as she eyed the three of them sheepishly. "I didn't wanna say anything in front of the cops," she continued, her eyes shifting towards Dean. Dean let out a chuckle as he nodded, looking away from her for a second before looking back at her. Rebecca continued, explaining how she got it. "I stole it off the lawyer's desk." She shrugged a bit. "I just had to see it for myself." Getting a simple  _alright_  from Dean and a gesture for her to lead the way out, Rebecca turned around and she headed back towards the front door with Dean right behind her.

        Sam hesitated to follow as he looked back over at the photo on the refrigerator. Selena had taken a few steps forward to follow after Dean and Rebecca but she didn't hear Sam making a move to follow behind her. She stopped in her tracks and looked towards Sam, tilting her head. She re-approached him and took his right hand into her left hand. "Come on, Sam. We have more investigating to do together." When he didn't look towards her, she looked at the picture on the fridge before looking back at Sam. "We'll save him, Sammy," she softly stated, making Sam look at her. She smiled at him. "So, do not worry about him much. He'll be okay because we were born to save the innocent." Sam nodded shortly and smiled at her, the two of them heading out of the house together with their hands connected to one another...

**~(Approximately) Between February 28th-March 7th, 2006; St. Louis, Missouri~**

        Within Rebecca's home (technically the house of her parents), Sam was standing directly in front of the television within the living room, the remote to the television tucked up underneath his chin as he intensely stared at the playing security footage from the night of Emily's murder. Rebecca and Selena were sitting on the couch just behind Sam, sitting to the far right on it so that they were able to see the footage. Dean was perched on the arm of the couch, being located to Rebecca's right. Standing slightly to Dean's right but also behind him, Riley had her eyes on the back of Rebecca's head, glaring at her as she completely ignored the footage and she continued to resist her urge to growl at the young woman out of jealousy.

        "Here he comes," Rebecca commented as the footage showed Zach entering his household at night. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary from what they could tell. So far, it just looked like Sam's friend was returning home like he normally did everyday, assumingly. Rebecca shook her head in disbelief at the footage. Maybe it had been someone else that just looked like Zach because it wasn't possible for him to be at two places at once. It wasn't uncommon for people to be mistaken as someone else because there were look-alikes out there in the world. This guy on the screen could easily pass as a twin brother of Zach, even though he doesn't actually have a twin brother.

        "Twenty-two o' four, that's just after ten," Dean stated. He glanced down at Rebecca. "You said time of death was about ten-thirty." Clearly, he wasn't thinking about the fact that maybe the creature stayed in the house for a bit before he did any actual killing. The thing clearly looked like Zach so obviously, Emily believed him to be Zach, allowing him inside the house. It was basically the only thing that made sense but Dean wasn't thinking about that, considering that he was still hoping that this was just something psycho humans do and not psycho monsters. He didn't like being wrong about this, okay?

        Rebecca didn't look at him as she explained. "Our lawyers hired some kind of video expert." She shook her head slightly as she watched the footage. "He says the tape's authentic. It wasn't tampered with." And apparently, she wasn't thinking about this problem fully either. Although, it was very normal for people to miss the complete obvious because they chose to not overthink about stuff.

        Riley rolled her eyes and began to speak. "This clearly is just some guy that looks like Zach. We all have a twin out there somewhere, like the saying goes. Sort of. I might had reworded it, I don't know." She stretched her arms above her head as Dean and Rebecca looked towards her. She was getting back to her normal routine of being herself but she still felt a little off, just wasn't showing it exactly. "This probably isn't the best example but Selena looks exactly like her bitch of a mother and she even kind of looks like her half-sister, Juliet, because of their few similarities in the facial region." She crossed her arms and thought for a moment, trying to think of a better example that would fit. She snapped her fingers and smirked, looking back at Dean and Rebecca. "I've even met someone who looked like me except she had a darker complexion. So, my suggestion isn't entirely impossible." She was being mostly truthful, minus the first thing she had said, which was about the guy just looking like Zach, acting as if this was just a normal homicide when it wasn't.

        Selena rubbed her eyes, letting out a yawn. "I'm sleepy..." she mumbled, entirely off topic. She almost sounded like a child upon saying it. She leaned back and laid her head against the couch. She didn't like staying up late and that was exactly what all of them were doing. She wanted to sleep and due to her sleepiness, she didn't care about missing something important. But she stayed awake anyways, considering that no one gave her permission to go ahead and sleep; she may be exhausted but she wanted to know if everyone was okay with her going to sleep, even though she was at the point where she couldn't stay up much longer. Rebecca acknowledged her words but didn't respond while Dean and Riley both just looked over at Selena, a small smile appearing on both of their faces as they watched Selena get comfortable against the couch and neither of them said a word in response to Selena.

        Sam hadn't been listening to any of them, focusing on the footage playing in front of him. On the top left corner of the four-sectioned screen, a really quick close-up of Zach (or 'Zach') caught his eye and he lowered the remote from his chin, pausing the footage for a moment. He looked over at Rebecca. "Hey, Beck," he began, causing her to look towards him. "Can we take those beers now? And a water for Selena? She doesn't drink." He needed Rebecca to leave the room so that he could show the others what he had found.

        "Oh, sure," Rebecca answered as she stood up from the couch. She walked around the couch and began to head towards the kitchen area, walking towards the open doorway but before she was out of sight, Sam stopped her by calling out to her and she turned around, waiting for him to tell her whatever it was that he wanted to add.

        Sam smiled at her. "Maybe some sandwiches, too?" He needed more time to speak with Dean, Riley, and Sleepy Selena. Rebecca just gathering beer and water wouldn't take very long so he asked for food, knowing that would take her longer to do. If she did it, anyways.

        Rebecca laughed and shook her head at him. "What do you think this is,  _Hooters?_ " She looked away from Sam and entered the hallway, disappearing from sight with a smile on her face.

        "I wish," Dean mumbled to himself as he looked away from the doorway with a smile on his face. Yep, his mind had gone back to  _that_  so easily but thankfully, it could be as easily broken from his concentration, thanks to Riley.

        A low wolf-like growl broke Dean out of his thoughts and he looked towards Riley, a cautious look temporarily on his face before it vanished and a look of annoyance replaced it. He was going to have to get use to hearing her do that, if she was going to constantly be doing it from now on. Riley was glaring at him fiercely as if he had just freaking cheated on her or something. "I wish you'd stop making stupid comments like that because now just isn't the time, Winchester. We've got work to do and a monster to kill. Get your damn head out of your goddamn ass," she growled. Her animal-like instincts were making her a bit more aggressive than usual, but only just a bit more. Dean couldn't wait until this was over with because he wasn't liking Alpha Wolf Riley right now. Actually, he didn't like any moment where Riley was being a little aggressive because it was kind of annoying but he was getting use to that, just didn't like her being a little more aggressive than usual.

        Dean kind of wanted to argue back but he opted not to, instead just agreeing with her. "Right." He got up from the arm of the couch and he walked over to where Sam stood, standing right beside him. "What is it?" he asked Sam as Riley moved to sit where he had originally been sitting, her attention on Selena for a split second as she noticed that Selena was falling asleep. Riley's bad mood deteriorated almost immediately and she almost laughed as she watched Selena slowly fall over onto the other cushions of the couch, asleep in an instant.

        "Check this out," Sam said as he took a step closer to the television. He raised the remote and he rewound back to what he had saw, stopping a few seconds before the occurrence so that he could easily pause on what he had spotted. He played the footage forward, without hitting play, and after several frames, he stopped on the one that showed Zach looking directly into the camera with silver eyes.

        Riley looked away from sleeping Selena and the smile on her face vanished when she looked at the paused footage on the screen. "Goddamn it," she mouthed to herself as she laid her head in her hands, immediately feeling dreadful again, amongst other emotions. She hadn't wanted to be right. She didn't want it to be a fucking Shapeshifter. Why did it have to be a shapeshifter? She didn't want this to be real. Like, she had dealt with quite a few shapeshifters before meeting Dean and Sam but those experiences were just never great. Most of her experiences as a hunter were never great because the same thing usually occurred half of the time while other times, the opposite would occur. And that particular thing that reoccurred revolved around death.

        "Well, maybe it's just a camera flare," Dean suggested, staring at the paused footage. He still didn't want to believe that he was wrong.

        Sam shook his head very slightly. "That's not like any camera flare I've ever seen." He looked over at Dean. "You know, a lot of cultures believe that a photograph can catch a glimpse of the soul." Dean glanced over at him and nodded shortly, still unsure despite the evidence. "Remember that dog that was freakin' out?" Sam questioned him rhetorically. He looked back towards the footage, looking at the silver-eyed Zach. "Maybe he saw this thing. Maybe this is some kind of dark double of Zach's, something that looks like him but isn't him. Kind of what Riley had said except with a more supernatural effect."

        "Like a Doppelganger," Dean remarked.

        "Yeah," Sam agreed. "It'd sure explain how he was two places at once."

        Riley removed her head from her hands and she got off the arm of the couch, moving to stand in between them as she placed her arm on either of their shoulders, somewhat for Sam considering his tallness so the gesture was kind of awkward and he didn't bother lowering himself slightly to her level. Dean and Sam both looked at her while she stared at the screen. "And now it is time for me to rain on the little parade you two had going on over here. It's not a doppelganger or anything dealing with negative versions of oneself. It's a shapeshifter. Like me, in a way, except it happens to be a very different type. I turn into canines and, well." She removed her arm from Sam and gestured to the screen. "It can turn into just about anyone it sees. It could easily turn into one of you if it really wanted to or maybe myself or even Sleeping Beauty behind me," she continued. Both brothers looked back to see that Selena was curled up on the couch, snoozing, and the two quickly looked back at Riley as she continued. "Sometimes, it's difficult to tell the difference between the two people because the shifter follows your actions, pretending to be you and that's exactly how it managed to get inside the house without alerting Emily of its potential dangerous manner. I think it fucked up, though, because as far as I know, they don't kill people unless they are provoked into doing so." Riley shrugged as she removed her other arm from Dean. "Maybe Emily noticed a difference in _Zach_  and it got mad about not getting laid. Who knows?"

        "Selena told us that you've been acting strangely because of a past experience," Sam told her. "What happened?" He was concerned and curious at the same exact time about it.

        Riley scoffed as she shook her head, still not looking at either brother. "Of course she told you that. She tells you both everything." She looked over, and up, at Sam at last, a frown on her face. "Selena almost died. That's what happened, Sam. She's too trusting of others and the fact that she knew it had been a shapeshifter pisses me off because she still tired to-" She looked away from Sam, shaking her head again as she stopped talking for a short moment. She looked between Dean and Sam, speaking a bit more softly than she had been. "You both already know how kind-hearted Selena is and I've told you before, or maybe Selena has, about how she's willing to bring out the supposed goodness within most creatures, even if it meant her dying in the process and that's exactly what she'll do if she encounters this shapeshifter. I can't allow that to happen." She turned around to face the couch, looking down at sleeping Selena as Dean and Sam both turned to face the couch as well. "She needs to sit this one out from now on. I just can't risk her dying this time around. I just can't." Selena was all she had left, family wise. "I mean, she's survived this far with everything we've been through and we've all had near death experiences before with this life, but one can only have but so much luck before the well finally runs dry."

        Dean watched Selena sleep for a few additional seconds before he looked at Riley. "Nothing will happen to her, Riley." He continued to stare at her as she looked towards him. He shook his head slightly. "We won't allow it." He didn't want anything to happen to Selena either.

        "Dean's right," Sam agreed, making Riley look over and up at him again. His eyes were on sleeping Selena but he turned his gaze towards Riley a few seconds later and he shrugged lightly, his tone gentle. "Besides, you have us with you this time. We'd protect her no matter the cost." He gestured towards her, continuing. "But you're right, too. She'll be safer here while we hunt for it. But even so, we'll be protecting her by killing that thing." Regardless of what they did, the three of them would be protecting Selena from potential danger. 'Least that is what they believed.

        Riley stared at Sam for a moment before nodding, looking away from him and back towards Selena, who remained sleeping on the couch. "Thank you," she whispered to Dean and Sam, a half-smile appearing on her face. She rubbed her arms as she hugged herself. "You know," she began after several seconds of silence, looking between Dean and Sam again. "Moments like this make me find the two of you a little less annoying." She felt like she had stated this before but she didn't care if she was repeating herself because it was the truth. She enjoyed little moments like this where they all were just very...civil with one another.

        Sam smiled at her when she looked at him again. "I knew you liked us."

        Riley scoffed in a playful manner. "Bitch, please." She lightly shoved him and he continued smiling at her as she smiled fully at him, no longer just half-smiling. "I like Pluto better than you. He knows how to communicate." Sam let out a laugh, rolling his eyes as he continued to smile at Riley. He liked her personality, no matter how rude she could be because of how she was. She wasn't all that bad in his eyes; she just needed to let loose sometimes, be more open with others and make friends with them.

        "Yeah," Dean agreed with the last thing Riley said. "Through your natural mating call of barks and growls."

        Instead of becoming angry with him, Riley started laughing at the comment. She looked towards Dean to find him smiling at her, him being pleased for accidentally making her laugh. "That was actually kinda funny, Dean. Ummm." She laughed some more, placing a hand on her abdomen. "My natural mating call, huh?" She nodded as she started smiling, still laughing a bit. "Yeah, you're not wrong. And come to think of it, it's usually you that I'm using my mating call on." Her laughter died down but her smile remained as she stared at Dean. "Kind of makes you wonder what I'm planning, doesn't it?" More often than not, it was Dean that Riley was  _barking_  and  _growling_  at about absolutely anything.

        Dean nodded after a moment, answering. "Yeah." He watched her move to sit on the arm of the couch. "Yeah, it does." Well, it was making him wonder now because she mentioned it. Maybe her being rude was another way for her to show her affection towards him? He shook his head as he pushed the thought out of his mind, not wanting to give himself a headache from trying to figure Riley out. He looked over at Rebecca as she finally reentered the living room, carrying a large platter that had several sandwiches on it and a few beer bottles were carried underneath one arm along with a water bottle. As he moved out of her way so that she could place the platter down onto the coffee table nearby and he watched as Sam helped her with keeping the drinks from falling out of her grasp, he spoke to her. "Uh, thanks. Do you mind getting a blanket? Selena fell asleep. She was really exhausted." Selena looked like she was cold, even with her wearing her denim vest. Rebecca looked over at him, glanced at Selena on the couch, and she nodded, smiling at Dean before she left the room again, soon reappearing with a folded blanket in her hands. Thanking her silently as he took the blanket from her, he immediately unfolded it and placed it over Selena with a smile before he moved to eat some sandwiches and drink some beer with Rebecca, Riley, and Sam...

**~(Approximately) Between February 28th-March 7th, 2006; St. Louis, Missouri~**

        The Impala pulled into the curb behind Zach's home, slowing to a stop. Only three doors of the vehicle opened, those doors being the driver's door, the passenger's door, and the left backseat door. Climbing out of the car was Dean, Riley, and Sam, Rebecca and Selena nowhere in sight because the two of them were back at Rebecca's family home; Selena hadn't even been aware that the three had left her, considering that she was still sleeping like a baby back at Rebecca's. Riley and Sam closed their doors in a normal manner, Dean slamming his shut a little harder than necessary because he was grumpy about being up so early in the morning and he clearly wasn't a morning person. The three of them walked until they grouped up in front of the Impala, staring at each other.

        Riley sighed as she stretched, letting out a long and loud yawn before speaking. "Alrighty then. Let's get this shit over with." She wasn't pleased with being back at the crime scene where the horrible smells were but if it was necessary to make sure they didn't miss anything, then whatever. She'll just have to deal with her issues silently. Or loudly because since when did she ever do anything silently? She fumbled with her leather jacket zipper, bringing it further up to her neck until it was zipped all the way. Come to think of it, she was wearing the outfit she wore when they were dealing with the Bloody Mary case. Except this time, she had on a black tube-top underneath the jacket. And she might had stole that out of a closet within Rebecca's home. Whoops?

        Dean leaned back against the hood of the Impala, a plastic coffee cup in his right hand. "What are we doin' here at five-thirty in the morning?" he questioned Sam grumpily. He really wasn't pleased with having to be there at such an early time. Couldn't they had waited until the afternoon or maybe even lunchtime? Hell, any time would had been better than morning. But nope, it just had to be morning. 'Cause why not?

        "Somebody's grumpy," Riley said in a sing-song tone as she looked over at Dean, shifting to move where she was sort of standing in between the brothers, Dean right in front of her and Sam to her left. Dean looked towards her and glared at her, unamused. She rolled her eyes at him. "Oh, suck it up, buttercup. It's not the end of the fucking world." She gestured towards herself. "I don't want to be here but you don't see me complaining, do ya, sunshine? So, as I said, suck it up," she finished, smirking afterwards.

        Dean opened his mouth to make a smart remark but was interrupted by Sam. "Can you two stop for five seconds so I can talk?" Riley raised her hands up in defense as she looked towards Sam before she gestured for him to continue. Dean looked towards Sam but it was clear by the look on his face that he was very annoyed with Riley already, this emotion mixing in with his grumpiness. "I realized something," Sam told them both as he stared at them still. "The videotape shows the killer goin' in, but not comin' out." And he appeared to be the only one who noticed it.

        Riley blinked as she lowered her arms to her sides. "It does?" she questioned. Sam nodded. "Huh. I must had been too busy watching Selena sleep to even notice." That totally didn't sound creepy as hell. She scratched the back of her head, making a face. "Oops. Oh well. It's a good thing we have you, Sam, to spot obvious things that others seem to miss." She glanced over at Dean and he glared at her again. She just shrugged and looked back at Sam. Wasn't her fault that Dean didn't notice some obvious shit. He couldn't use the  _I was watching Selena_  excuse because he had been paying attention to the footage, most of the time. As far as she was aware, anyways. Dean could had been daydreaming about ass and boobs the whole time for all she knew.

        "So, he came out the back door?" Dean questioned before he took a sip of his coffee.

        Riley shook her head as she glanced at Dean, looking away from Sam momentarily. "No, Dean, he did the reverse  _Smooth Criminal_. He came in through the door and went out the window. And then the real Zach came home, asking Emily if she was okay when she clearly wasn't." Dean glared at her again and she rolled her eyes. He was probably going to be glaring at her a lot that morning. Also, it was probably a little low for her to sarcastically remark about the murder while referring to a Michael Jackson song. Whoops times two?

        Sam even glared at Riley this time as Riley looked back at him. "Yes, Dean. He came out the back door," Sam answered as he continued glaring at Riley. Riley smiled apologetically but Sam shook his head, turning away from the two of them and he took several steps forward, crossing the empty road to the alleyway that laid behind the house. Well, he didn't enter the alleyway that was actually technically  _beside_  the house and not behind it because a dumpster is what was behind the house. Unless the little roadway they were on could be considered an alleyway, then yes, he was in the alleyway. Sam glanced back towards Dean and Riley as he walked, continuing his speaking. Dean wasn't looking towards him but Riley was. "So, there should be a trail to follow. A trail the police would never pursue." Riley hummed as she acknowledged what Sam said while Sam looked away from them again, beginning to investigate the dumpster that was against the backside of the building (aka Zach's house).

        Dean made absolutely no move to follow behind Sam, too busy taking another sip of his coffee. That and he was too tired, and grumpy, to want to do anything right that moment. "'Cause they think the killer never left and they caught your friend Zach inside," he stated after he lowered his cup from his mouth. Seconds later, he continued talking. "I still don't know what we're doin' here at five-thirty in the morning," he grumbled, speaking out of Sam's hearing range but Riley surely heard him because she was  _still_ standing right in front of him.

        Riley rolled her eyes (again) as she looked towards Dean (again), placing her hands on her hips. "Actually, he did answer that question of yours. Well, the answer was implied mainly but still, he answered it." Dean stared at her as she placed her hand on her necklace, fumbling with it as she spoke with him more. "More investigating needs to be done," she stated flatly since Dean didn't seem to be getting it. Dean just hummed as a reply and sipped his coffee again. Riley continued on staring at him. "I'm sorry," she apologize suddenly, making Dean nearly spit his coffee out of his mouth as he looked at her, surprised; when would he not be surprised by her, she wondered. "About my back and forth nonsense that doesn't seem to be ending. Just because I'm still very bitchy doesn't mean I don't like you. It's just how I am." And obviously, she wasn't really great at showing affection towards others anymore unless the person was Selena.

        Dean narrowed his eyes at her, wondering if she was just trying to trick him. He was a little on edge with the grumpiness, with the being annoyed, and with the being tired all rolled up into one. It took him a moment to finally say something to her. "I get it, but it doesn't make it any less annoying." He kind of wished she'd tone down her attitude sometimes but she was right, she can't control how she was-is. And he definitely believed her when she said it because she wasn't exactly in control of her animal whateverness, as far as he knew. Although, he was really glad that she wasn't growling at him anymore but he wasn't putting his guard down any time soon because she could release another one of those growls of hers at any moment.

        "Yeah, I know," Riley replied, agreeing with him. She felt the same way about herself sometimes. "I find it annoying myself but it's not just me who's like this." She gestured towards Dean and he raised an eyebrow at her, wondering what she meant. "You come off as rude towards me, too. Sometimes. Mostly when provoked, which is my fault but still." She pouted. "You're mean towards me sometimes. So, stop being mean and maybe I'll stop being mean, too, cause it's your fault." She stuck her tongue out at him as her immaturity made an appearance. Nothing in her last sentence made sense; she had just stated it was her own fault that she was mean because it was how she was but then, she went and stated that it was Dean's fault that she was acting how she was acting. Maybe she didn't like knowing that she had very visible flaws.

        Dean nodded and he sipped his coffee some more. An awkward silence grew between them as they waited for Sam to find something, anything. Riley looked over towards where Sam was, seeing him looking near the dumpster with a look of disappointment. He hadn't found anything useful. Not yet, anyway. Riley looked back towards Dean and he was staring at her again. She raised an eyebrow at him and waited for him to say something. It was clear that he wanted to say something else. "...So, you're half dog?" he asked her after a few moments had passed in total.

        Riley would've thrown something at his head if she actually had something to throw that wouldn't kill him. Half-dog? Really? She wasn't fucking Inuyasha. Was he seriously asking her that? She already told him before that she was entirely human. Had he not been listening? Although, it had been a while since she told him that. "No, Dean. I've already told you that I'm all human. I only have the power to turn into a dog...and act like one. Wolves and foxes included in that mix. Anything canine related, really. It's fun sometimes, minus yesterday and right fucking now 'cause all I'm smelling is garbage and the three nasty scents of that shapeshifter." She looked down at her feet momentarily as she twisted her necklace in her hand. "Selena adores animals and I'm the closest to a pet that she can get. Although, it is a bit awkward getting pat on the head and giving her doggy kisses. It's really awkward, actually, but I try to ignore the feeling since it makes her happy."

        Dean made a face. Riley had made that sound more like Selena had a kink for bestiality. "You could've explained that in a better way because now, I have an unforgivable image stuck in my head." He made a move to sip more of his coffee but he stared at it before making another face. Yeah, he lost his thirst for the coffee. God, that image was disturbing. Riley let out a laugh as she shook her head at him, not even bothering to apologize for what she had accidentally caused. Instead, Riley walked over to where Sam was and she watched him continue to struggle with finding clues. Dean watched the two of them for a moment before he looked away from them, staring straight ahead of himself at nothing in particular.

        Sam continued his search for anything that could help them but he seemed to be failing to find anything at all. There didn't seem to be any signs of the shapeshifter leaving the household. He thought he would've found a trail by now but still, nothing. Stopping his constant pacing around the area, he stood still and his eyes gazed around at everything, his eyes finally laying upon Riley. Riley rubbed her nose as a new scent made its way up her nose and she pointed at the nearby telephone pole, her eyes locking with Sam's. Sam nodded shortly and he immediately strode over to where the telephone pole stood, noticing blood smeared across said pole as soon as he approached it. "Blood," he commented. "Somebody came this way."

        Riley released a scoff as she wrinkled her nose. "Yeah, no shit, Sam." She was the first to realize that, thanks to her currently uncontrollable power. She was certain that Sam would've found that shit out on his own without her but what was the point in keeping information to herself when she could clearly be of some use to the brothers right now? But God, did it reek out there. She thought the inside of the house was bad but the outside, at least the back of the house, was much worse. The shapeshifter had definitely left through the back door, unseen. The sad thing about this? Riley couldn't pinpoint where the shifter had gone off to because of the overpowering smell.

        Riley and Sam looked over towards where Dean stood. He wasn't looking towards them but he definitely had been listening to them somewhat converse with each other. He looked everywhere else but towards where the two of them were standing, remaining against the hood of the Impala. "The trail ends. I don't see anything over here." He gestured to nothing in particular with his coffee cup filled hand when he had spoken and it appeared that he didn't seem to care all that much about what they were saying, for obvious reasons.

        Sirens of an ambulance filled the air unexpectedly, causing the three to look down the road. Riley removed herself from harms way as the ambulance zoomed by their location, its lights flashing dimly in the daylight and its sirens continuing to loudly blare as the ambulance drove past them. Dean and Sam exchanged a look with each other, one of curiosity, while Riley looked towards where the ambulance was racing off to, slightly concerned and very much irritated. "Well, this just can't be good," she remarked. Most likely, the shapeshifter had gotten another victim.

        In post haste, the Winchester brothers and Riley reentered the Impala, following after the ambulance. It wasn't too far ahead of them and they had been able to catch up with it, only for the ambulance to stop a few blocks down from Zach's empty home. Dean pulled the vehicle up behind another car and a small group of six civilians that were just as curious as the three hunters were about the situation. Dean, Riley, and Sam removed themselves from the Impala, closing the doors behind them and they placed themselves into the crime scene, moving to stand near a bystander that was slightly further behind the group of civilians. Silently, the three hunters watched as a dark skinned police officer placed up some police tape, the man making sure that the civilians were behind it at all times as two other officers stepped towards a police car with a handcuffed Asian man in between them, the two placing him into the back of the vehicle. Dean spoke up after watching this occur. "What happened?" he asked the woman the three of them were standing near.

        The woman was dressed in running clothing, breathing hard and with headphones in her eyes, a mp3 player strapped to her waist. She was panting and she was sweating slightly, her morning jog having been interrupted by the sudden arrival of the police and whatnot. "He tried to kill his wife," she explained as she tried to catch her breath from her previously jogging state. "Tied her up and beat her pretty badly." She didn't look towards the two as she spoke, her eyes on the scene in front of her.

        "Goddamn," Riley remarked as she watched the scene herself. "That's, uh, that's rough." She couldn't think of anything to say that wouldn't sound insensitive, other than what she had just stated. Her mind was still a little wonky about everything regarding the murderous shapeshifter. She shook her head slightly as if though she was in disbelief with what happened. "Can't believe it." There was only one thing she couldn't believe: how the fuck was the woman still alive? Riley was one-hundred percent certain that she heard the woman say that the man, erm, the shapeshifter had  _tried_  to kill the wife of the arrested man. Did that mean that the shapeshifter had gotten interrupted during its little torturing kink? She looked at Sam and he looked back at her with worry.

        "I used to see him going to work in the morning," the woman continued as she kept her eyes on the scene still. "He'd wave, say hello. He seemed like such a nice man." She shook her head in confusion, in complete disbelief with what she was witnessing. How could such a nice guy turn out to be a psychopath? Just how? How was this possible? She just couldn't believe her eyes. Seeing this, witnessing this made her wonder if anyone else she's seen was capable of doing this to anyone.

        Riley gently shrugged, gesturing at the police car that was driving away. "Well, you just never know what anyone is capable of these days. One friendly neighbor could turn out to be a pedophile. Everyone has their secrets and they keep them well hidden. This is just another example of what is kept in the dark." The woman looked at her and she nodded in understanding; you just never know what anyone's real intentions are until it's too late. When the small crowd dispersed and the police left the area, Riley followed Sam to the back of the house so that she could help him find any evidence of a trail that could had been left behind while Dean checked somewhere at the front of the house. So far, all the two spotted were two empty garbage cans. "Nothing?" Riley asked Sam as she watched him. He sighed and nodded, making her groan in response. "This is bullshit. So much for things going faster with Selena and I joining the two of you, huh?" Riley threw her arms out in frustration as she paced in front of Sam. "I can't even smell for shit right now because of all the scents masking the area! I'm useless again. Hell, when the fuck have I ever been helpful?"

        Sam shook his head as he watched her, disagreeing with what she said. "You're helping plenty, Riley," he told her. She stopped her pacing and she stared at him. "Without you and Selena, Dean and I could've taken longer with solving those cases, more people could've died. Meeting you two and working together has prevented worse things from occurring." He was looking on the bright side of things; Selena has helped a lot, with her knowledge and with her powers that she was currently refraining from using, and Riley had helped quite a bit herself, with some of the talking and with the scenting she did earlier, though she was having trouble with that now. And sure, they weren't any closer to finding his father or finding the thing that killed Jess but things work slowly and he honestly believed that they'd find them both quicker anyways, now that they were all working together on this. Just, uh, he was hoping it wouldn't take years either way.

        Riley hesitated to speak. "...I suppose." She guessed that she could agree on her and Selena helping out some, but she still felt that she hardly did anything useful. She stayed completely still for a moment before she swayed slightly on her feet. "But the main reason we joined you was to help find your father and the creature that killed your girlfriend." She shook her head. "And we've had zero luck with that. I had hoped that with combined efforts, we'd find them faster or we'd at least get some clues to where either of them were but still, all we have is nothing. I mean, the only bright side to us joining together was that the two of you became closer to Selena, more protective of her." She stared at Sam, almost smiling at him. "It surprised the holy shit out of me because I didn't think it was possible for that to happen so quickly. I didn't even think it was possible for new levels of protectiveness and closeness to be reached but you three certainly met those levels in a matter of, like, a few weeks worth of days that turned into a few months when we teamed up." Basically, she was referring to the few cases they did together that lead up to them teaming up, speaking of the few days each previous case that they had to the many days they spent together after joining up.

        "It always depends on the person for that kind of thing," Sam told her. "Selena is just..." He started smiling, unable to help himself. "She's too likable, too lovable, too innocent. You can't hate her and you can't help but want to protect her from everything." He began to frown just as quickly as he had began to smile when he mentioned Selena. "I'm worried about her," he revealed. Riley tilted her head as she stared at him. "After Bloody Mary, she hasn't been using any of her powers. It makes me think that she's afraid of using them again, regardless of what she told me. But honestly, I'd be afraid, too, if I destroyed that much with just my scream."

        Riley nodded, understanding what he was saying. "She's more powerful than she thinks and that's what scares her. That would scare anyone. But I'm sure she's only afraid to use them right now because she doesn't want to hurt us unintentionally." She placed a hand to her chest, gesturing to herself. "I get scared of that, too, and if either of you had powers like Selena and I, yeah, you'd be scared of hurting someone as well. But I don't let that fear keep me from using my powers because not only do I have the potential of accidentally harming someone but I have the potential of saving someone too. There's always good and bad with everything."

        Sam nodded. "Yeah, I know and you're right about that." He started to grin and he gestured towards her. "Why aren't you always like this?" he asked. She stared at him, not saying a word and looking as if she was confused by what he was asking, even though she wasn't confused at all. "I mean, I like your bluntness when it doesn't come off as rude, which is rare, but this side of you is nice. Why hide it?" He liked seeing this part of Riley, seeing the kindness she was holding inside most of the time. Not to mention that he was glad she wasn't acting a little off still.

        "I don't hide it, Sam," she told him matter-of-factly. "I just never have the need to show it most times." She was only nice to some people in previous cases because she deemed it necessary. 'Least that is what she wanted to believe. She wanted to pretend that she didn't have a heart for anyone else unless she deemed them worthy of worrying about. But damn it, she had to admit that she was enjoying this little moment herself.

        "You show it towards Selena," Sam pointed out. "A lot."

        Riley looked at him like that was obvious. "Well,  _duh_. She's my sister. Of course I'm like that with her but I can be blunt with her, too. Depending on my mood." She shrugged and began to pace again in front of Sam. "I just choose to be like that with her on the sidelines when you idiots aren't around because I'm use to it and most times, I'd rather not be seen being like that. Those moments I shared with her yesterday, if they can be considered moments at all, were just because of how this case is effecting me. It's drawn out my animal-like nature and my emotions are just...all over and more powerful than I'm use to." She looked through some nearby bushes, finding nothing as she started searching for a trail again. "But it'll be back under control when this is over and I can go back to be a nice bitch behind the scenes. Although, this is a nice conversation we're having so maybe I'll consider being nice a lot more."

        Sam moved to stand beside her and he looked through the bushes himself, becoming somewhat productive again as he spoke to her more. "Do you know why you're acting like this? The exact reason why?" She never really clarified what it was that was making her be a little different but the same. He knew it had something to do with the past and something to do with the shapeshifter that they were after currently but that was about it. He didn't know anything else on the matter.

        Riley huffed as she stopped searching through the bushes, still finding absolutely nothing. She smelt absolutely nothing that would signal out the shapeshifter's scent. The scents were mixing too much still. Probably because of the slightly more open area that happened to be more public than Zach's home. "Well, this thing is another shifter, as you are well aware of, so I guess my inner alpha wishes to show it who's boss." She looked at Sam again and he looked at her, stopping what he was doing. "It's like when an alpha takes over another alpha's territory or when they trespass into another alpha's territory. Neither of those are really the case here but it feels like it and I want to tear the thing apart with my bare hands for what its done."

        "I think you need to work on your anger issues," Sam remarked, half smiling. Riley gave him an unamused look and he rolled his eyes, continuing. "You had me worried, you know," he admitted, causing Riley to stare at him in shock. She hadn't been expecting him to reveal something like that. "Yesterday when you acted a little odd, I had thought something was wrong. Thought you were going through something alone and I didn't like that." He placed his hands on either of her arms as he stared down at her. "We're friends, Riley. If there's ever anything you need to talk about, I'm here. The same goes for Selena." He cared about them both, more than he thought he ever would.

        "Hmm," Riley hummed as she stared up at him. "You're like a male version of Selena, except less formal and much less innocent minded." She brushed off his hands, making him release his hold he had on her arms. "But I know, Sam. You and I have went through something similar. We, uh, both lost a lover to something, lost someone we loved in the worst way." She crossed her arms and looked down at her feet as she revealed something to him. "You know, I never got to see what Brian looked like after Mara got ahold of him. Selena saw, though, and she made sure I didn't see. She wanted me to remember him as he was." She reached for her necklace that laid over her zipped up jacket and she grasped it tightly, silently telling Sam that the necklace was given to her by Brian, if he hadn't known that already. "I imagine it, though. What she did to him. And I hate it. I still hate it and it makes me glad that I never got the chance to see his corpse."

        Sam wasn't entirely sure what to say as he stared at her. He glanced away from her momentarily before looking back. "...I wish I didn't see it," he revealed, speaking about witnessing Jessica's death. "I can't get the image out of my head, no matter how hard I try. I see her burning every time I close my eyes." He looked down at his hands as tears formed in his eyes at the thought of the horrid memory. He had loved her so much. He still loved her so much. How could he just allow that to happen to her? He could've prevented it, maybe, but he didn't and she died. Nothing could change that but the memory just wouldn't escape his mind and it felt like it never would. However, it was far too soon to tell if he would ever get over Jessica's death, her death still fairly recent.

        Riley never took her eyes off of Sam as she watched him silently, thinking about what he had just revealed to her. She nodded slowly, though Sam didn't see her do this, and she reached up with her right arm, patting his left shoulder, making him glance up at her again, his eyes having been on his hands. "It'll get better eventually, Sam," she softly told him. "I can promise you that much." She knew from experience. While she wasn't entirely over the death of the man she loved, she did learn to live with the nightmares that she had of what might had happened to him. Riley half smiled at Sam, a smile that he returned as he blinked back the tears that had formed within his eyes. He watched as she jerked her head sideways towards her right before she removed her hand from him, turning on her heel and beginning to walk away from him. With only the tiniest of hesitation, Sam followed behind her and together, the two of them walked to the front of the building, towards where Dean was located.

        Upon spotting them circling to the front of the building, Dean quickly walked up to them both. He had just gotten some much needed information, sort of. It wouldn't exactly help them find the shapeshifter but he was definitely nine-thousand percent sure that this was their kind of thing. "Hey, remember when I said this wasn't our kind of problem?" he asked them. Riley and Sam both nodded at him, waiting for him to get to the point; they already knew that he hadn't thought this was a case because he stated such multiple times before things became clear that this really was a case for them to deal with. " _Definitely_ our kind of problem," he stated, pointing downwards at nothing in particular as he seriously stared at them both.

        Riley stared at Dean for a moment before slowly raising her left hand up to her face and holding her head as she looked down, shaking her head slightly. "Dean," she began slowly, lifting her head and lowering her hand to her mouth for a second before placing her left hand on her right arm. "I'm pretty damn sure that we established this fact last night. You know, when I  _revealed_  that it's a shapeshifter we're after. Remember that?" Why state the obvious when the obvious is known? Well, clearly the obvious hadn't been known to everyone until now.

        Dean glared at her, the glare being something that was becoming a signature move of his. "I'm aware of that, Riley. I'm just saying that I've got some information." He should had just stated that instead and maybe Riley wouldn't had made a smart remark. Sometimes, it was just Dean's own fault when smart remarks happened. "I just talked to the patrolman who was first on the scene," he started, his glare vanishing as he became serious again. "He heard this guy Alex's story. Apparently, the dude was driving home from a business trip when his wife was attacked. Then, he sees himself in the house. Police think he's a nutjob," he revealed to Riley and Sam, waving his arms around as it became clear that he was excited at what he had discovered. But all that really did was confirm what they already knew.

        "I would, too, if I didn't know any better," Riley reflected. She could see why the police thought the man was insane. No one knew about the supernaturalness within the world except for hunters, abnormal beings, and anyone that witnessed unexplained mishaps. Poor man was going to be in the looney bin for the rest of his life. "So, exactly how much do you two know about Shapeshifters? I didn't really say too much about them last night."

        "Not much but enough," Sam admitted. He glanced around the area as a few civilians walked by them, looking for any clues of a trail and came up empty once again. He looked at Riley. "Let me ask you this." He walked around her as he looked up towards the sky, wondering if he'd find a trail somewhere high. Riley followed him with her eyes, never gazing away from him as Dean moved to stand closer to her, his eyes on Sam as well. "Can any of them fly?" Sam asked finally, still staring up towards the sky. By this point, he was just guessing because he couldn't find anything and Riley wasn't being very helpful with her Bloodhound nose.

        Riley looked at him weird. "Sam, unless they can magically turn into birds or fucking bats, I don't think any shapeshifter can fly." Sam turned around and looked at her as she continued. "As far as I'm aware, that power doesn't exist and normally, only canines and other people are the two species that shapeshifters can turn into, depending on the type of shapeshifter. Nothing more or less." She let out a sigh as she placed her hands on her hips. "Although, apparently this shapeshifter is really great at leaving half a trail but it can't have just vanished into thin air, I know that for certain. We just need to think really hard about this. Perhaps it found another way to run off without being seen." Now, she was just talking outta her ass about where it could have gone. She couldn't scent it out, which made her continue to feel useless in this situation, and she knew that it didn't fly away or teleport. Where else could it have gone without being seen by anyone?

        Dean's lips were drawn in a thin line as he thought about what Riley had just stated. Nodding slightly, he tilted his head sideways in a light jerking motion as he looked between Riley and Sam. "Well, there's another way to go," he pointed out after a moment of thinking. Riley and Sam stared at him, waiting for him to elaborate. "Down," he disclosed. Seconds later, the three of them looked down towards their feet and there it was, a manhole located right beside Sam's feet that lead right into the sewers, steam lightly rising out of the grate and into the air.

        Instant regret. Instant regret was exactly what appeared on Riley's face as she stared at the manhole. "Why in the hell did I say anything at all?" she questioned herself as she started glaring at the grate in the road. Of all places, she would have to enter the sewers with the Winchesters; sure, the Winchesters weren't bad company to keep but this was the fucking sewers, a place in which would murder her nose, her nose in which was catching too many scents at once right now. This certainly wasn't going to end well for her, or her nose, and that was a fact in itself but she took her own advice and  _sucked it up_ , climbing down the ladder after Dean. She was trying so hard to breathe through her mouth but instinctively, as she stepped onto the ground with a splash and released her hold on the ladder, she breathed in through her nose and immediately regretted it, gagging. "Oh my God, the fucking smell. Holy fuck. God, it's murdering my nose." She lifted her hand to her face, covering up her nose as she looked around, her eyes landing on Dean's back as she watched him pace forward a bit before he turned and paced past her, pacing and facing in the other direction from her. "God, I should've stayed up top because this place fucking smells like ass," Riley continued, sounding a little odd because she was holding her nose closed. She looked down at her feet, making a face as she recalled the fact that she was wearing heels, and she looked back up, looking around the sewer tunnels and finding herself a bit pleased with the fact that there were a few lights so that they could see where the hell they were going, considering that the three of them didn't have any light sources with them.

        Sam climbed down the ladder fully, closing the manhole behind him so that no one accidentally fell in. Planting his feet on the ground, he looked down the left tunnel that Dean had first slightly paced down (the way Dean had went before he turned around and paced down the tunnel to Sam's right). Sam didn't say anything in concern for Riley but he did lightly pat her back since he was standing behind her. "I bet this runs right by Zach's house, too. The shapeshifter could be using the sewer system to get around." Yeah, no shit, Sam.

        Dean glanced back towards where Riley and Sam stood before he looked down the tunnel that was in front of him. And he literally was looking down towards the ground where something rather disgusting laid. "I think you're right," he told Sam as he stepped down the tunnel a few paces. Sam looked towards where Dean was and he gently pushed Riley towards that direction as he heard her make whimpering and whining sounds, her hand still over her nose. The two of them soon stood behind Dean, watching him as he crouched down beside what looked like a pile of blood and skin. He pulled a pocket knife out, using it to lift some of the gunk up which hung off the knife in long mucus-like strands. Dean and Sam both looked at the gunk in disgust but Riley's reaction was far worse than theirs.

        Riley gagged. "Oh, God." She immediately turned away, removed her hand from her nose, and hunched over, spewing vomit onto the ground for at least thirty seconds. After finishing, she remained hunched over, closing her eyes as she panted. She felt Sam pat her back again and she groaned. "God, I liked it so much better up top. I'd rather deal with many mixed scents than the scents of ass, blood, death, rotting flesh, and now my vomit." She wiped her mouth with the sleeve of her jacket and she looked up at Sam as she straightened back up, Sam staring at her in concern despite being disgusted by the vomit episode that just occurred along with the discovery of something just as gross. "This is officially the worst case I've ever been a part of," Riley stated with a frown and sickly look on her face. Sam grimaced and just pat her back again as he looked back over at Dean.

        "You know, I just had a sick thought," Dean spoke up, voicing his thoughts as he looked at the mucus-like crap that hung from his knife. "When the shapeshifter changes shape, maybe it sheds." That would explain all the blood and the skin that they just found. The thought of that was just as disturbing as just looking at the gunk. Imagining the shapeshifter shedding its skin of someone else to put on a new skin of another person, that was just...gross.

        Riley made a disgusted face, grimacing as she avoided looking at Dean again. "Sadly, you're very correct about that assumption, Winchester. Now, please put that down before I vomit up the rest of my breakfast and let's just please get out of here before I fucking keel over." She was just so done with being down there. She wanted to leave, she wanted to go back onto the street, and then she wanted to find and kill the shapeshifter that made her have to endure this shit. Why did it have to hide in the sewers? She knew that they'd have to come back down there after they geared up and she didn't want to come back down there, just nope. Oh, that's disgusting, she had some vomit on her heels. Definitely, she was going to be taking them off and throwing them away.

        After Dean let the mucus drop back onto the ground, the three of them went back to the ladder and exited the sewers, Riley going up first because she just could no longer stand staying down there any longer. She removed the cover with ease and pulled herself out, sitting on the road for a moment as she sighed in relief when much better smells entered her nose. Dean and Sam left the sewers one after the other, climbing out of the manhole and closing the cover behind them. Sam helped Riley stand up and as they made their way back to the Impala, Riley removed her heels and tossed them into the garbage can outside the building they checked earlier-ish; she wasn't going to be missing those shoes ever.

        When the three of them got to the vehicle, Dean opened up the trunk and began to fumble through various weapons that laid within the car. He picked up various types of guns and knives but he didn't keep them in his grasp for long as he placed them down, looking through everything as he tried to find the perfect weapons to use and silver bullets to place within whatever gun they would use. "Well, one thing I learned from Dad is that no matter what kind of shapeshifter it is, there's one sure way to kill it." And considering that Riley had shapeshifting powers, maybe it was the same for her but, uh, just about any human could be killed with a bullet to the chest so that thought didn't really matter.

        "Silver bullet to the heart," Sam answered as he watched Dean pick up another gun, only this time Dean began loading it with silver bullets that would kill the shapeshifter. Dean glanced over at Sam with a smirk and a nod before he went back to loading up the gun. Sam looked away from Dean, looking towards Riley. She didn't look sickly anymore, more color in her face now. She was looking down at her bare feet, most likely questioning her decision to get rid of her heels. "Where are your shoes?" Sam asked since he hadn't noticed her removing them.

        "In the trash. I vomited on them," Riley nonchalantly stated. She looked up from her feet, looking over at Sam for a second before she looked at Dean, watching him load another gun with silver bullets. "So, you both know about that. That's what I wanted to hear earlier but someone neglected to tell me about it." Riley looked over at Sam, giving him a look and he smiled apologetically at her. Always reveal that you know how to kill something because that's the most important thing to know. That and other weaknesses that creatures had because knowing those helped, too.

        Sam's cellphone began to ring in his right pocket. He hurried to answer it, pulling it out of said pocket just seconds later. He raised the phone to his right ear after answering it, moving away from the Impala a bit to talk a bit privately. "This is Sam," he answered as a greeting. As soon as the person began speaking, Sam knew immediately that it was Rebecca who called him. She was wondering where they were. "We're near Zach's. We're just checkin' some things out," he told her. He listened to her response, which was anything but nice; well, her tone was anything but nice. "What are you talkin' about?" Sam questioned her, confused as to why she no longer wanted their help. Her answer to the question made him scoff. "Why would you do that?" he questioned her. Why would she tell the lawyers about what they had been doing? After hearing her explain, he frowned as he realized that she found out the truth: Dean and Riley weren't detectives. "Beck, we're trying to help," he began, trying to explain but she interrupted him with more angry words. "Beck, I'm sorry, but-" He continued to frown as he listened to Rebecca hang up on him, lowering his phone from his ear as he hung up too. He released a disappointed sigh and he leaned against the side of the Impala, staring forward at nothing in particular. That definitely could had gone better...

        Riley walked away from the back of the Impala, strolling over to where Sam was. She frowned as she stared at him, standing to his right. She kind of felt bad for him and she felt slightly at fault for what she believed occurred. "What did she say?" she asked. She had only heard Sam's half of the conversation but she could only imagine how angry Rebecca was. From what she could tell, Rebecca had found out about their huge lie and had taken that anger out on Sam, her friend. "Sam?" she questioned after he didn't answer her.

        Sam looked the opposite way of where Riley was standing, still frowning. He looked back forward after several seconds, keeping his gaze away from Riley. However, he did answer her question like she wanted him to. "She knows that we lied and she doesn't like how we dragged Selena into this mess." He didn't say anything else on the matter. He didn't need to because that was basically the gist of what Rebecca had told him during the phone call. But hey, at least Selena was off the hook. Somehow.

        Riley continued to frown and she crossed her arms. "I'm sorry that we made matters worse, Sam, with the detective talk. We were just trying to help you out." Sort of. They were sort of trying to help him out but that clearly didn't work out at all. Instead, it only made the lie worse and made the consequences worse. She really did feel a little bad about this. She didn't want to feel bad about it but she did. Sam may had started the lie but she and Dean had only made it worse because...well, she wasn't sure why they went with the detective thing but still, matters were made worse.

        Sam looked down towards the ground, keeping his gaze away from Riley. He just didn't want to look at her. Too upset with what happened to bother doing such. "It's not your fault," he told her in a softer tone than what he previously used. He didn't blame her for this. He didn't blame Dean for this. He blamed himself. He blamed himself for lying to his friends. He hadn't believed himself to be lying to them or maybe he was just in denial about it but now, he knew for certain that he had been just lying to them. No half-truths, no saying one thing but meaning a different thing. He had been lying and he knew that now. And additionally, he was really wishing that things could be back to how they once were but he knew, deep down, that his normal life was only just a daydream now.

        The trunk of the Impala was slammed shut, indicating that Dean was finished with loading some weapons with silver bullets. Sam didn't bother looking in Dean's direction or even Riley's direction (which happened to be in the same direction as to where Dean was located) as he kept his eyes focused on random things in front of him, such as the road, the sky, some passing strangers, and even the buildings surrounding the three of them. Riley glanced at Dean as he approached them, him stopping when he was beside her. Dean stared at Sam for a moment, glanced at Riley (who quickly looked away from him and back towards Sam), and then he looked at Sam again. "I hate to say it," he began. "But that's exactly what I'm talkin' about. You lie to your friends because if they knew the real you, they'd be freaked." He paused for a second. "It's just- It'd be easier if-"

        "If I was like you," Sam finished for him, a grim look on his face. But he didn't want to be like Dean. He wanted to socialize with others, make friends, keep friends. He didn't want to just stick by certain people, namely Dean and the Grant-Piers half-sisters, but he also didn't want anyone outside of this life involved with what they was doing. Maybe Dean was right but he just didn't want to give up on that part of him. He wanted to keep feeling, at least, a little normal. He finally looked towards Dean and Riley.

        "Hey, man, like it or not, we are not like other people," Dean told him. "But I'll tell you one thing. This whole gig-" He took a gun out of his jacket pocket and held it out to Sam. "It ain't without perks." He winked at him. Sam let out a sigh before he took the gun from Dean's hand, tucking it into the back of his jeans. Dean glanced at Riley, seeing her looking elsewhere as she remained out of the conversation and he decided to add something that shouldn't be left unsaid as he looked back at Sam. "And we've met some interesting people along the way." Dean looked back towards Riley as she half smiled at him, rolling her eyes playfully. "Did you bring any weapons with you?" he asked her. She had rode with them instead of driving her own vehicle and he wasn't about to just assume that she had a weapon on her before they reentered the sewers.

        Riley shook her head. "No. I keep everything inside a really large duffel bag that's in the back of my car, practically underneath the seats. Everything's still there. I hadn't thought about grabbing a weapon from it when we left this morning. Was a bit frustrated with having to go back to Zach's." A simple no would had been fine but a whole explanation was okay too. Dean nodded before pulling another gun out of his jacket pocket, handing it over to Riley. She took it without hesitation. "Thanks." She followed suit with what Sam did, placing the gun into the back of her pants. Maybe next time she'd be more prepared...

        Before long, the three hunters were back inside the sewers. Dean was leading the way, his gun and flashlight out as he walked through the tunnels cautiously. Sam was right behind him, his own flashlight raised as he slightly copied Dean's movements, double checking to be sure that the shifter wasn't down there with them as he kept his gun to his side. Finally, Riley was at the end of the line with no flashlight in her grasp, her gun resting against her right side, and her jacket collar was over half of her face; she was trying to block out the smells by covering her nose with her jacket but it wasn't turning out as great as she had hoped it would because she could still smell everything that was bad within the sewers.

        As the three of them navigated through the sewer tunnels, Dean somehow ended up at the back of the line and Sam was leading the way, Riley walking in between them. After three more minutes of walking and searching for any signs of the shifter, the three of them entered a very narrow tunnel with pipes on their right side. As they walked down the tunnel slowly and eventually came to a temporary pause, Dean shined his flashlight on the pipes beside them and he spoke up. "I think we're close to its lair."

        "Why do you say that?" Sam asked him as he continued looking forward, shining his flashlight onward to see if anything interesting was ahead of them. Behind him, Riley glanced towards her right and almost immediately looked away as she noticed the pile of mucus-like gunk that was right beside Sam's face. How in the hell was he missing that? It was right there, just sitting there in the light of Dean's flashlight. How could he not see it?!

        "Because there's another puke-inducing pile next to your face," Dean answered in a matter-of-fact tone. And it was confirmed that the pile was indeed puke-inducing because it made Riley vomit earlier. Although, that might had been his fault for her puking because he had messed with it instead of letting it just sit there.

        Sam turned towards his right, immediately spotting the pile of blood and skin that looked very mucus-like. He jerked his head back in disgust as he stared at it, turning his body to face the filthy pipes. "Oh, God." He continued staring at the pile of gunk with a disgusted look on his face, his flashlight pointing down at his feet. God, he should've been paying attention to his surroundings more. That should've happened to Dean and not him. It's not everyday when you turn your head and find yourself staring at a pile of what looked like pukey mucus. It was very disgusting, beyond disgusting actually.

        Riley whimpered as she placed her back against the wall behind her. She raised her free hand and pulled her jacket collar away from her face. There wasn't a point to having her face covered when it didn't help keep the scents from invading her breathing space. "Dude, you were nearly lip locking with that shit," she stated, disgust on her face. "That's fucking disgusting." It had practically been in his mouth. Riley quickly placed her free hand over her mouth as she felt like she was going to puke again. She really shouldn't had thought too much about that. Luckily, the feeling of puking died down and she lowered her hand, but her disgusted look remained on her face as she stared at the pipes. "God, it reeks." It was times like this where she wished she was normal.

        None of them moved from where they stood but the three of them did, however, look towards where they had been planning to go. Dean and Sam shined their flashlights towards the ground, revealing much more blood and larger pieces of flesh that laid within some torn clothing. Riley became more disgusted by the sight and she realized why it smelt so bad, having thought the smell had just been coming from the nasty covered pipes. "Looks like it's lived here for a while," Dean commented as he stared down at their new finding.

        Sam frowned as he, too, continued staring down at what they found. "Who knows how many murders he's gotten away with?" Hundreds, thousands. Too many to count, probably. Who the hell knew how many years the shapeshifter had been doing this. It could've started killing long before any of them were even conceived.

        Riley gagged as the smell suddenly started to become a bit overwhelming. Additionally, it almost smelt like something...different was nearby, something new but she wasn't certain. She was entirely unaware that she was scenting the shapeshifter itself. "If we were playing the guessing game, I'd say a shit ton. Smells like a shit ton." God, she wanted out of those damn sewers again. Why did she agree to going back down there? And she was barefooted, too, so her feet were likely going to smell like ass and toilet water. She really shouldn't had gotten rid of her heels but far too late to be regretting that poor decision.

        Sam turned to face Dean and Riley but he got the biggest surprise of the day when he spotted something that hadn't been there beforehand. Standing right behind Dean was the shapeshifter, the shifter being in the form of the Asian man that had been arrested earlier that day. Sam's flashlight was shining right in its face and its eyes glowed silver as it stared at him menacingly. "Dean!" Sam exclaimed as he fully registered the shapeshifter's sudden appearance. Dean spun around in response to Sam's yell while Riley quickly turned around as well, only for Dean to get punched in the shoulder by the shapeshifter and for Riley to get knocked back against the wall when Dean was knocked back into her because of the force of the blow from the punch. The shifter, after punching Dean, immediately turned away from them and took off running the way they all had came from. Sam finally raised his gun and began firing a few shots at the shifter as it ran away, missing each time before it was out of his line of sight. Sam lowered his gun temporarily as he looked over at Dean and Riley.

        Dean groaned in pain as he got up, his right hand on his left shoulder. Riley got up off the ground afterwards, Dean having had been on top of her. How the two of them had ended up falling onto the ground when there was a wall right behind them, none of them were sure but that wasn't the problem right now. "Dean, are you alright?!" Riley practically yelled, though she hadn't meant to because she was just surprised with what had just happened. One would think that she could expect the unexpected. She could, just not all the time and that right there had been one of those times. And even though she had yelled the question at Dean, one could hear the genuine concern within her tone.

        Dean leaned against the wall slightly as he looked towards Riley and Sam, seeing both of their looks of concern. He gestured his head towards where the shifter had gone. Why the hell were the two of them just standing there? "Get the son of a bitch!" he exclaimed. He was mad about getting hit and he was annoyed that the two of them were more concerned with making sure he was okay when they could be killing the shapeshifter.

        Sam looked away from Dean and sprinted down the tunnel, running after the shapeshifter at last with Dean and Riley right behind him. The three of them easily caught up with the shifter but didn't risk potentially wasting bullets trying to shoot him. They eventually followed him up a ladder of a random manhole, watching him disappear up top. Sam climbed out of the uncovered manhole first, followed by Dean (who struggled a bit because of his shoulder), and then lastly Riley. The three of them stood by the manhole with their weapons hidden underneath their clothing temporarily, the three looking around the area but the shifter had vanished into the night. "Alright. Let's split up," Sam suggested as he looked towards Dean and Riley.

        Riley looked like she was both on board with the plan and off-board with it. Her verbal response matched the look she had. "That's the worst fucking idea I've ever heard but sure, Sam. Let's split up and make ourselves more vulnerable to another shifter attack. What could possibly go wrong with this plan, I wonder?" Unknowingly, she was predicting something that would actually end up occurring.

        "I'll meet you both around the other side," Dean told them as he automatically agreed with Sam's plan. He walked around the bench that was in front of him and he began speed walking towards what laid straight ahead, unknowingly heading the way that the shifter had gone. Sam had nodded to what Dean had said before he walked around the bench, too, and began strolling towards the left of the area they were in. Riley threw her arms out as she watched the two brothers walk in two different directions, the two leaving her where she stood. Cursing to herself, she followed after Sam since he happened to be the closest to where she was standing and she hadn't planned on searching by herself, she wasn't freaking suicidal.

        Riley and Sam hurried down a street, searching for any sign of the shapeshifter. They gazed at everyone they walked by, eyeing them cautiously as they continued onward. The shifter could be anyone by now, if it was able to change quickly from one skin to another. Sam kept his gun hidden beneath his jacket while Riley recklessly placed hers to her side, not caring if people freaked out or not because maybe they'd be able to tell which one was the shifter if it didn't freak out like everyone else but that plan was a no go because everyone kind of jumped away from the two of them when they walked by, clearly afraid of the gun Riley was showing off. After several minutes of silently searching for the shapeshifter on the streets with no success whatsoever, Riley spoke up and began a conversation that would turn out to be a little longer than she had hoped. "...I don't like that he went alone, Sam," she revealed to him at random, expressing her worry about Dean being alone during his search for the shifter.

        Sam glanced at her as they continued walking down the street together, side by side. He had to admit that he was a little surprised by the sudden confession of worry that Riley was sharing with him. "...He'll be fine," he assured her. He wasn't worried about Dean at all, having full confidence that Dean could take care of himself just fine. He looked away from Riley, glancing around at the new people they were walking by. It was going to be really hard to pinpoint where the shifter was in such a crowded street.

        Riley shrugged, her eyes locked straight ahead of her as she occasionally glanced to the left or right while they continued on walking down the street. She wasn't just using her eyes, though, as they searched. She was using her nose, too, and it wasn't really much help because she wasn't catching the shifter's scent at all. They had to have gone the wrong way for that to be possible or Riley was just sucking at sniffing out things like she had been doing most of the time. "Yeah, maybe he will be," she half agreed after a moment. Maybe he was right, maybe Dean would be okay but then again, maybe he wouldn't be okay. She wasn't sure why she was worried about him; perhaps it was because they were becoming friends finally?

        "Why did you follow me?" Sam asked her. "I thought we all had agreed to split up." He wasn't wrong, all of them had agreed but Riley had mostly half agreed while half being sarcastic with her agreement, both 'answers' kind of cancelling each other out. As for why she followed him, that was kind of self explanatory but additionally not so. Sam was mainly just curious as to why it was  _him_  that she followed and not Dean.

        Riley didn't hesitate to answer him immediately. "You were closest to where I was standing so I followed you. If Dean had been closer, I would had went after him. Either way, I wouldn't had went off on my own like the two of you wanted to do." She looked at him at the same time he looked towards her. "I didn't exactly agree to splitting up, Sam. I was mostly being sarcastic. I didn't like the idea of any of us being alone while we looked for the thing. I still am not comfortable with Dean being alone in his search but you're right, I'm sure he's more than capable of handling himself so he'll be fine as you stated. Besides." She stopped walking in the middle of the street and Sam paused as well, still looking at her. People walked by them from both ways, some glaring at them and some making comments about them needing to move their asses out of the way. Regardless, the two ignored them. "I thought you could use a Bloodhound," Riley continued. She hadn't thought about that at all when she followed Sam but she was saying it now just because and was clearly thinking about it since she mentioned it. She sniffed the air as she looked around, eyeing everything in sight and still, she couldn't smell the shifter; she was almost certain that she would be able to recognize its smell and right now, its horrible fragrance wasn't nearby. "The scents are mixing together but everyone is human from what I can tell. It's nowhere near us and it hasn't been for a while or I would've signaled it out by now."

        Sam nodded. "Okay. Let's finish searching the street and if we still come up with nothing, we'll just wait for Dean. Maybe he'll find a trail if we don't." Riley nodded in agreement with Sam's words and the two of them commenced with walking down the street again. Many minutes passed onward as they searched for the shifter and they constantly came up with nothing. Eventually, the two of them came to a stop at the corner of a street, waiting for Dean to meet up with them as they searched in one place.

        Riley was extremely frustrated. "I can't believe it got away. This is bullshit. This is what we get for hesitating to run after it." She placed her hand to her head as she released a long sigh. If they hadn't been concerned with Dean being harmed, they would've ran immediately after the shifter. Hell, they should've risked missing it by shooting at it while they were climbing the ladder. Could had at least wounded it or something but nope. They did nothing but chase it and lost it in the process. Good job to them.

        "We'll find it, Riley," Sam told her. "Just try to relax." He was concerned about this, too, but he wasn't about to start panicking. They'll find and kill it eventually. Just hopefully before it harmed or killed anyone else. Where the hell could it possibly be?

        Riley rolled her eyes at his words. "It's hard to do that when all I can think of is that thing possibly getting to Selena. We need to kill it and soon." She inhaled and immediately tensed up as she caught a new scent, the strong smell of what could be considered an animal but with the mixture of blood tangled into the scent. She leaned towards Sam as she looked at him, keeping her eyes locked in front of her. "Sam, it's here. I can finally smell it," she whispered to him. Immediately, Sam looked around cautiously but he was looking forward, towards one direction and not towards what laid behind them both.

        Coming up behind the two hunters was the shapeshifter and it was no longer wearing the skin of the Asian man. No, it was now posing as Dean which meant that Riley's worries were a reality, Dean having gotten jumped sometime during his search alone. The shifter was wearing Dean's clothing, wearing his amulet, and it was acting just like the real Dean but it was very unaware that Riley had scented him so its act wasn't going to work out very well, least not the trickery part of the act. "Hey," it called out to them, causing both of them to turn around to face it as it walked up. It threw its arms out as it pretended to be Dean, acting as if Dean hadn't found anything when he had. "Anything?" it asked them.

        Sam opened his mouth to answer but Riley answered first. "Nope," she lied. She knew that this wasn't Dean they were talking to. "We searched everywhere. I couldn't even sniff him out. Still can't."  _Dean_  eyed her, its eyes narrowing as it wondered if she had realized he wasn't Dean. Sam looked towards Riley as well, but he was confused by her behavior; she had just told him she smelled the shapeshifter and now, she was saying she didn't. However, it didn't take Sam long to realize that  _Dean_  wasn't Dean and he acted as if everything was normal. "There's too many scents in one place," Riley explained as she tried to keep the shifter oblivious to her knowledge of it being there. "Can't pinpoint shit. All it's doing is hurting my fucking nose." She wrinkled her nose seconds later as emphasis to what she had stated.

        _Dean_  continued staring at her before nodding. "Alright," it stated as it looked around the area. "Let's get back to the car." It looked back towards Riley and Sam, only to discover that the two of them were already jogging across the street. It moved to follow behind them but stopped at the edge of the sidewalk, waiting for a car to drive by and as it did, the shifter's eyes lit silver as the headlights of the car shined on his face temporarily. Once the car was out of the way, the shifter began following behind Riley and Sam, whom semi waited on the other side of it.

        While the shifter was having slight troubles with crossing the street to keep up with the two hunters and having some difficulty with keeping up with them still as they walked down the sidewalk ahead of it, Riley whispered to Sam as she walked beside him, not wanting the shifter to accidentally overhear anything despite it being a distance behind them. Hopefully, the shifter was stupid enough to think that Riley and Sam were just in a hurry to continue a search. "That isn't Dean. That's why I lied," she explained quietly. "In case you had been wondering why I did a three-sixty with everything I was saying." What she meant was that she had gone from saying the shifter was there, to saying it wasn't there, and then back to saying it was there, aka  _making a three-sixty_. Sort of, anyways. Close enough to a three-sixty.

        "Yeah, I realized that after a few seconds," Sam informed her in a hushed tone. He kept his eyes locked on the path ahead of them, avoiding looking at Riley to avoid letting the shifter know that the two of them were privately talking. "We need to catch it off guard." And they needed to do that soon. In his mind, he wanted to go ahead and jump the thing, tie it up or whatever and find out where Dean was before killing it. Although, he mostly wanted to just turn around and shoot it for impersonating Dean but considering that it was impersonating Dean of all people, it would be impossible for him to shoot it without some hesitation.

        "Not yet," Riley hissed in slight disagreement. "We should play along and see what happens. Then, we can catch it off guard and find out where Dean is. We don't want it getting the best of us instead." She knew how aggressive shifters could become when provoked. She wanted to play it safe before the two of them jumped the shifter. If they tried attacking it now or when it caught up to them, it would immediately react with no hesitation because it would immediately know that something was up, depending on how the two of them were acting and right now, the two of them could easily be seen as being up to no good. But doing that, it wasn't worth the risk. It was better to wait it out until the perfect moment.

        Eventually, the shifter had caught up in pace with the two hunters but it didn't expect anything out of the ordinary. It believed itself to be undetected but it was wrong, unbeknownst to itself. Time passed by slowly as the three silently headed to the Impala's location. Not a word was spoken until they had finally reached the vehicle, Sam being the one to speak up. "You think he found another way underground?" he asked. Riley shrugged in response, making an 'I don't know' expression that was false.

        "Yeah, probably,"  _Dean_  answered absentmindedly. It stopped at the trunk of the Impala as Riley and Sam both walked towards the left of the vehicle. Both missed the look that the shifter was giving the trunk, eyeing it like it was candy or a present. "You got the keys?" it asked Sam as it stared at the back of the car for a few more seconds before it glanced up towards Sam. It didn't really care about driving the car but it sure as hell wanted to get into the trunk of it.

        Sam paused his pacing, keys jingling as he pulled them out of his pocket. He glanced up towards Riley as she turned to face him, her face expressionless to avoid detection of what they both knew (that this wasn't Dean they were talking to). Sam thought for a moment before he turned towards  _Dean_ , an idea in mind. Perhaps he could trick the shifter into revealing itself so that he and Riley would have a better reason to randomly ambush it. Probably not the best plan because that was entirely pointless but he did it anyways. "Hey, uh, didn't Dad once face a shapeshifter in San Antonio?" he asked it.

        _Dean_  stared at Sam, answering him after just a second. "Oh, that was Austin. It turned out not to be a shapeshifter. It was a thought form, a psychic projection. Remember?" It had Dean's memories so it could easily lie its ass off by saying something that the real Dean had witnessed or learnt. This was the reason why it was so easily able to trick its victims into thinking it was the real person because not only did it look like the person when it wore a skin of them but it additionally would learn their memories to help it keep in character, up until when it would get pissed off and kill them.

        "Oh. Right." Sam half smiled as he slightly shook his head, acting like he had gotten his information mixed up. "Here ya go." He tossed the keys to the shapeshifter, the shapeshifter catching them in his left hand. He looked away from the shifter as the shifter looked at the keys, searching for the one that would unlock the trunk. Sam stared at Riley, deciding to start a conversation to keep the act together. "Other than nearly dying, what else happened when you faced shapeshifters?" he asked her, actually kind of curious as to what happened on those cases.  _Dean_  glanced up from the keys, eyeing them both as it listened in on the conversation.

        Riley shrugged as she answered. "The usual, basically. Cat and mouse chases. Lots of hand-to-hand combat. Lots of shooting and missing like you did." She smirked when Sam glared at her a bit. "Some flirting," she continued on, causing Sam's eyes to widen. She raised an eyebrow at this reaction, her smirk vanishing for a moment before she realized what Sam had assumed. "Dude, no. I didn't mean with the shapeshifter. I'm talking about the handsome men that I was saving." She started smirking again. "Got some pretty good rewards, by the way." Sam rolled his eyes as he made a face of disgust at the thought and he walked around her, shaking his head. Riley let out a short laugh and shook her own head, turning to follow behind him. "Hey, don't walk away while I'm talking about my sex life! Ya rude bastard!"

        The shapeshifter, or  _Dean_ , shook its head slightly and rolled its eyes as it looked away from the two, looking back down at the keys in its hands. Finding the correct one, it unlocked the back of the trunk and opened it, revealing all of the various weapons that the Winchesters carried with them on the road. It stared into the trunk, eyeing absolutely everything and it smirked, letting out a quiet chuckle as it found itself pleased with the findings. "Don't move!" it suddenly heard Sam exclaim and it turned its head to the right, spotting Sam and Riley standing there with their guns pointed at it. It slowly leaned up, having been slouching over as it looked in the trunk, and placed its hands up in the air as it stared at them, acting as if it was confused and cautious about their sudden actions. "What have you done with him?" Sam asked the shifter. No more time for playing along, he wanted to know where Dean was and now.

        Although  _Dean_  appeared to be reacting how the real Dean probably would've reacted, there was a tiny hint of anger in its tone. It didn't like them pointing those guns at it and it knew that they would fire them at any given moment if it did anything wrong, if it did something that Dean wouldn't do. "Dude, chill. It's me, alright?"

        Sam stared at it, keeping the gun raised. "No, I don't think so." He nodded towards Riley, gesturing towards her. "Riley could smell your scent before you even reached us," he revealed to it. The shifter glanced towards Riley and she smirked at it, looking smug as she kept her own gun pointed at it. The shifter glanced back towards Sam, its expression not faltering as it tried to keep up the act. "Where's my brother?" Sam asked it.

        "You're about to shoot him,"  _Dean_  told him as it pointed towards the gun in Sam's hand while keeping its hands in the air. "Sam, calm down." It was trying to make Sam seem like he was just paranoid, trying to get into his head and make him hesitate with shooting. It knew that it wouldn't be able to trick Riley because of what was revealed to it, but it sure as hell hoped that it could trick Sam into making himself vulnerable to an attack.

        Riley scoffed, making the shifter look towards her. "Stop lying. You've been caught red-handed so just give up the act already." She started smirking at it again. "S'not just Sam who's pointing a gun at you, you know." She wouldn't hesitate to fire at it like Sam was likely to do. It couldn't trick her. Her nose never failed her before; well, it had failed her many times before but it wasn't failing her this time around. She knew that this wasn't Dean and as soon as she knew that the real Dean was okay, she was going to kill this son of a bitch.

        Sam shook his head as he kept his eyes on the shifter, the shifter looking back towards him. "You're not my brother," he stated. He wasn't going to let it trick him. He couldn't let it trick him. He knew the truth, he knew that this wasn't Dean but still, he couldn't help the slight doubt that he was feeling. And that doubt was making him fear that he could end up killing Dean and not the shifter.

        _Dean_  took a step towards Sam, challenging him. In response, Riley took a step closer to Sam herself and kept her gun aimed at the shifter's chest; she felt like it was up to something. "Why don't you pull the trigger, then? Hmm? 'Cause you're not sure." It took another step closer to Sam and Riley placed her finger over the trigger of her gun, ready to fire as she glared at the shifter. The shifter seemingly ignored her, its eyes on Sam. "Dude, you know me." Its hands were still in the air but its left arm wasn't raised as high as it had been earlier, its left hand practically inside the trunk of the Impala.

        "Don't," Sam warned, though he was hesitating to shoot the shifter that was impersonating Dean. This action was exactly what the shifter wanted. It stared at him before it suddenly swung a crowbar at Sam, it having picked it up from inside the trunk with its left hand, and in the process, it knocked Riley's gun out of her hand whilst causing her to fire the weapon, the stray bullet flying past the shifter and hitting the wall behind it. The shifter quickly hit Sam a second time with the crowbar, knocking him unconscious without a fight and it quickly swung it towards Riley as it attempted to knock her out just as fast but she wasn't having that, stopping the crowbar from hitting her with fast reflexes. However, her struggling against the shifter didn't last long as the shifter knocked her head against the roof of the trunk during their fight over the crowbar, knocking her unconscious and allowing her to drop onto the road in a rough manner...

**~(Approximately) Between February 28th-March 7th, 2006; St. Louis, Missouri~**

       The shapeshifter paced around a large dingy and dusty looking room that could easily be known as an underground storage space. As he walked around with future plans on his mind, Riley and Sam remained unconscious nearby, both postured to be leaning against a wooden post beside each other. While Sam's neck had rope wrapped around it and his hands were tied behind the post he was leaning against, Riley had rope wrapped around her torso and her hands were also tied behind the post she leaned against. In a short period of time, Sam began to regain consciousness and as he lifted his head up, he quickly came to realize that he couldn't move. Beside him, Riley slowly began to regain consciousness herself, considering that she had been knocked out shortly after Sam. Both of them looked around at their surroundings (as much as they could manage, at least) and they both met the gaze of the shapeshifter, who had started staring at them both just seconds beforehand.

        Pausing its pacing for a moment, it stood still as it stared at them more. After a few seconds had passed by, the shifter began to approach its two prisoners, cradling rope in its left arm. It stopped walking once it stood in front of Sam, staring at just him for several seconds before its blank expression became one of anger and it backhanded Sam hard, causing Sam to grunt when the hit landed. Sam groaned as he gritted his teeth temporarily, watching the shifter as it walked by him and continued watching it as it winked at Riley, it still walking towards the other side of the room. "Where is he? Where's Dean?" Sam asked as the shifter placed down the rope it was holding.

        _Dean_  looked towards Sam again, picking up a bag (which he placed the rope inside) as it started heading across the room again, beginning to head past Riley and Sam once more. "I wouldn't worry about him. I'd worry about you," it replied. It enjoyed seeing Sam worry about the real Dean. It took great pleasure in seeing the emotion and it wasn't going to tell Sam shit.

        "Go to hell," Riley growled as she glared up at it. The shifter glared back down at her and it retaliated against her by slapping her right cheek with a force greater than what he used when he backhanded Sam, leaving a rather red mark on Riley's cheek. Unintentionally, Riley released a whimper when the hit landed and the shifter smirked at her. She avoid looking at it as she felt embarrassed for letting out such a sound; it felt like she had just became submissive to the shifter.

        Sam glared at the shifter as it moved to stand in front of him again. "Where is he?" Sam echoed, repeating his previous words. He needed to know that Dean was okay and he needed to know where he was. Dean was his older brother and it was natural for him to be worried. The glare he was sending the shifter's way, that was for what it had done to Riley.

        _Dean_  stared down at Sam. "You don't really wanna know." It stared at Sam a little longer before it released a chuckle. "I swear," it began as it looked away from Sam, taking a few steps away before stopping, placing the bag down in front of itself. "The more I learn about you and your family-" It paused for a second before continuing. "I thought I came from a bad background." It began to rummage through the bag that it had, smirking a bit to itself.

        "What do you mean, learn?" Sam questioned, confused by what it was telling him.  _Dean_  ignored him as it examined some weapons from the Impala, placing them into the bag with a smirk still on its face. It couldn't wait to be able to use these later, on his next victim. Suddenly, it paused its movements for a moment to look at Riley and Sam before grabbing its head, grimacing from the pain that it was feeling as memories from Dean entered its mind. Sam continued to remain confused as he watched the shifter, watching as it jerked its head around before stopping. Sam looked towards Riley to see if she had any idea as to what was occurring but only found her staring at the shifter with narrowed eyes. He looked back towards the shifter as it finally relaxed with a grunt and sigh escaping its mouth.

        _Dean_  clenched its right hand, placing it against its mouth as a look of pain remained on its face for a few more seconds. It lowered its fist as it looked towards Riley and Sam again, mostly focusing on Sam. "He's sure got issues with you." It began to approach the two of them again, the bag in its grasp once more. "You got to go to college. He had to stay home." It stopped once it was standing in between them, dropping the bag onto the floor as it threw out its arms in gesture. "I mean,  _I_  had to stay home. With Dad. You don't think I had dreams of my own? But Dad needed me." It nodded at Sam. "Where the hell were you?" It leaned over, its face close to Sam's as it stared at him. "See, deep down, I'm just jealous. You got friends. You could have a life. Me, I know I'm a freak. And sooner or later, everybody's gonna leave me." It backed away from Sam, straightening up and it glanced over at Riley. "Even the actual freaks," it added.

        "What are you talkin' about?" Sam questioned the shifter as it turned around and took several steps away from them. Beside him (Sam), Riley kept quiet as she temporarily closed her eyes, a hurt expression on her face; she knew that this wasn't Dean but what if it was saying something that the real Dean had been thinking and, slash or, feeling? Did Dean really think of her and Selena as freaks?

        "You left,"  _Dean_  explained as it crouched down for whatever reason, looking back towards Riley and Sam but mostly Sam. "Hell, I did everything Dad asked me to and he ditched me, too. No explanation, nothin'. Just poof." It made a gesture as it said that last sentence, for emphasis. It stayed quiet for a moment before continuing. "Left me with your sorry ass." It straightened itself back up again as it picked up a tarp, heading over to the two hunters yet again. "But still, this life, it's not without its perks." It laughed as it looked between Riley and Sam. "I meet the nicest people. Like Selena for example." It eyed Riley and smirked as it saw her get stirred up by the comment, chuckling as it watched her struggle to get out of the ropes that held her to a wooden post. "I have nothing but positive thoughts about her. Mostly. She's so gentle and very easily broken by the littlest things." It crouched down in front of Riley, continuing to smirk. "She's nothing like you and that's why I like her better. You confuse the hell outta me with your back and forth crap." It reached forward and stroked her cheek that it had slapped earlier, Riley flinching as it touched her. "I still find you very attractive, though."

        Riley growled at it as she bared her teeth a bit, her green eyes becoming brighter for just a split second before returning to normal. She was furious with it. "I don't give a shit if you do something to me but if you lay a goddamn hand on  _her_ , I will kill you myself." No one was allowed to harm Selena in any possible way and if someone did, they would pay for it dearly. This bastard was going to have the most painful death if it touched Selena.

        _Dean_  just chuckled at Riley's threat, not taking her seriously. Or rather, not caring about the threat whatsoever. It looked over at Sam. "And then there's someone like little Becky. You know, Dean would bang her if he had the chance." It looked back over at Riley before standing up and it moved closer to Sam after looking back at him. "Let's see what happens." It smirked again as it covered Sam with the tarp that it had picked up. It looked back over at Riley and re-approached her, crouching in front of her again. "And when I'm done with them, I'll be coming back for you, sweetheart." It placed its hand in her hair, momentarily being gentle. "Don't wait up." Instantly, it gripped her hair as tightly as it could and banged her head against the wooden post, making her lose consciousness again.

        Sometime after the shifter was long gone with the bag of weapons, Sam began trying to get out of his ropes. The tarp over him fell off of his head but remained covering his body. He squirmed a bit as he tried to loosen the knots of the rope but failed in doing so. "Damn it," he grunted. A groan to his left made him temporarily stop his attempts and he looked over at Riley, watching as she reawakened. She had taken a blow to the head twice in one night, just like Sam, and it was a possibility that they both had a concussion. "Riley, are you okay?" he asked as he stared at her with concern, watching her finally open her eyes.

        Riley groaned again as she looked towards Sam. "I'm good. Extremely peachy keen." She hissed in pain as she lifted her head forward, the pain coming from the back of her head. "I'm gonna kill that son of a bitch," she growled in anger after a moment. It hadn't been necessary for it to knock her out but it did it anyways. Bastard. She'll kill it for that and she'll kill it if it harmed Selena. She'll kill it, find a way to bring it back, and then kill it again. That's how pissed off she was with it.

        Before Riley could attempt to get free from her own bindings, both she and Sam heard a noise coming from somewhere nearby in another area of the room. They glanced at each other, both worried for a split second that the shifter had suddenly come back. However, their shared worry vanished when they heard a cough that was soon followed by Dean's voice. "That better be you, Riley, and not that freak of nature." Dean had only managed to hear Riley speak, not aware that Sam was there as well. Well, he hadn't known until Sam immediately started chuckling after Dean had finished speaking, Riley giggling a bit herself. Even though Riley scented him to be sure, she already knew that it was the real Dean that they were hearing. "Sammy?" Dean questioned.

        "It's Sam but yeah, it's me," Sam answered, still kind of disliking the nickname. "Riley, too." He began trying to undo the ropes again, still struggling quite a bit in doing so. "He went to Rebecca's, lookin' like you." Kind of why he called it a  _he_  and not an  _it_ , since it was still posing as Dean. He glanced over at Riley to see how she was doing and saw that she was struggling to get free herself.

        From where he was tied up, Dean shook a canvas cloth off his head that the shifter had placed over him. "Well, he's not stupid." He grinned as he turned his head to look towards where Riley and Sam were located, only managing to spot Sam. "He picked the handsome one." He looked away from their location and began to work through his ropes, completely missing the confused look that Sam was giving him (Sam was able to look towards where Dean was, which is how he was able to give him a look). Dean paused for a moment as he processed what Sam said. "Wait, he went to Rebecca's? Son of a bitch!" He began trying harder with getting free, now that he knew that Selena was in danger, too.

        Riley released another growl as her green eyes brightened up again, this time remaining so for several seconds before returning to normal. "Don't you fucking remind me of that, Dean." She began to try harder to break free of the ropes, no longer bothering to try and just untie the knots somehow. She was getting angrier by the second and maybe that anger would be useful for once. They needed to hurry and get free. They needed to save Selena before it was too late, before the shifter touched her in any sort of way. Who knew what the hell the shifter had in store for Selena? Maybe it would torture her longer than its previous victims. That thought alone made Riley's hatred for the shifter stronger. She couldn't wait to kill the son of a bitch.

        "He didn't just look like you, he was you," Sam explained to Dean as Dean finally worked his way out of the ropes that were tied around his hands. Dean began removing the rest of the ropes from his body. "Or he was becoming you," Sam continued, shaking his head as he stopped attempting to get free. He had a very worried look on his face. "Rebecca and Selena won't be able to notice a difference." That comment right there was enough to really push Riley over the edge because she knew that Selena would notice the different and not do anything about it. Riley released a rather loud growl, louder than the previous ones, and she ripped through the ropes that held her without a problem. She dropped on all fours and panted heavily, continuing to growl. "Riley?" Sam questioned, slightly fearful that she may had lost her sanity. His eyes widened when she looked at him, seeing her eyes glowing brightly and they were quite literally glowing. He gulped as he watched her stand up and move closer to him, although she wasn't too far from him to begin with. However, she made no move to harm him and instead, she ripped the ropes off of him, freeing him from his confinement. Sam let out a breath of relief as he stared up at her. "Thank you."

        Riley stared at him, her eyes continuing to glow and her growling slowly became lower until she was silent. The glow in her eyes diminished afterwards, her eyes almost back to their normality. She had cooled off quite a bit but she was still angry. Not towards Sam, though. "...Sorry if I scared you," she remarked. "Kind of got knocked over the edge, you know...?" She reached outward, wanting Sam to take her hand so that she could help him up. "But I never would've harmed you, Sam." Sam nodded slowly before he reached up, taking her hand and allowing her to help him stand up. Riley glanced past Sam, looking towards Dean who had approached cautiously. "I never would've harmed either of you." She could get quite violent sometimes but even then, she only chose to hurt people who deserved it; she kind of made a few headlines in the past, such as  _Large Wild Animal Mauls Escaped Rapist_. She decided to go back to the topic Sam had been speaking of before she had gone a little wild. "Anyways, Dean, what Sam was saying is that the shifter appeared to be gaining your thoughts and memories. I've heard of them being able to do this but I never actually witnessed it until...whenever ago, when it was still here."

        Dean stared at Riley, eyeing her with caution before he answered. Hey, he couldn't help that he wanted to be cautious. He just witnessed Riley act as if she was about to brutally murder Sam and none of them, namely himself and Sam, had weapons to protect themselves if Riley were to suddenly go ballistic again. "You mean like the Vulcan mind-meld?"

        Riley continued to stare back at him and she shrugged, dismissing the fact that Dean appeared to be eyeing her like she was about to explode again at any moment. She really hoped that he still trusted her despite what just happened. "Sure, we'll go with that, Dean. And it could be the reason why he didn't just kill us, least part of the reason anyway. Could also be some psychic connection or whatever." She shook her head quickly and waved it off, literally. "Oh, who cares about that? What the hell are we doin' just standing here? We need to go and knock that bastard on its ass."

        The conversation ending right then and there, the three hunters began to look at their surroundings as they tried to figure out a quick exit strategy that would get them to Rebecca and Selena faster. Sam was the one to spot light shining in through a grate located over where the shifter had often been standing when it had been talking with Riley and Sam. Climbing onto some durable crates, Sam knocked himself against the weak grate several times before he was able to make an opening for the three of them to crawl through. He, obviously, crawled through first and found himself standing within a dark alleyway. He turned around to see Riley crawling out next, followed by Dean. "Whoa," Sam said as Riley suddenly stumbled forward when she stood up and he grabbed onto her arms, helping her steady herself. "Riley, are you okay?"

        "Yeah." Riley placed her hand on her head and hissed in pain like she had earlier when she felt the back of it. "Damn it. I think that bastard might had given me a concussion. Feels like it, anyways. Probably just being paranoid. Surprised you don't have one, though. He hit you with a crowbar.  _Twice_." She gestured for him to release her and he did. She swayed for a second before remaining still. "I'm good," she assured him when he reached out towards her again. She was unaware of the glare that Dean was sending Sam and Sam was unaware of the glare as well, not really paying attention to him.

        "I'm fine. He hit my shoulder the first time, then he only hit me hard enough to knock me out," Sam informed her, responding to the crowbar incident she mentioned. He looked at Dean, who had stopped glaring at him. "Come on. We gotta find a phone, call the police." The only chance Rebecca and Selena had, realistically, was the police showing up at Rebecca's. There was no way the three of them could make it to Rebecca's on time.

        "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!" Dean exclaimed repeatedly, throwing his arms out as he stared at Sam in disbelief. "You're gonna put an APB out on me." He didn't like the sound or thought of that. Not at all. Sam just shrugged and apologized sheepishly.

        Riley rolled her eyes as she turned around to face Dean, placing her hands on her hips. Dean noted that her eyes were back to their normal shade of jade-green, no longer slightly or brightly glowing. "Sam may be sorry about it but I'm not. We won't get there in time. The cops will. I'm not letting my sister die just because you don't want the police after you, Dean," Riley told him. She turned away from him and started sprinting down the street. Dean sighed before he and Sam followed behind her, Dean wishing he had chose his words more carefully; he hadn't meant for it to sound like he didn't care for Selena's safety...

**~(Approximately) Between February 28th-March 7th, 2006; St. Louis, Missouri~**

        Sitting within the living room of Rebecca's home, Rebecca was sitting on the couch with the shapeshifter that she believed to be Dean. Sitting criss-cross on the floor at their feet was Selena and she was rocking, staring up at them curiously as the fire within the fireplace roared furiously behind her. While Rebecca was unaware that  _Dean_  wasn't really Dean, Selena knew that the shifter had come to claim another victim and she was determined to prevent that somehow, hopefully in a very civil manner. Silently listening to  _Dean_  and Rebecca chat, Selena hummed quietly to herself as she watched them and she smiled kindly at  _Dean_  when it looked at her. However, its gaze didn't leave her for the longest time, even after Selena broke eye contact with it.

        "So, you're saying that there's something out there that made itself look like my brother?" Rebecca questioned  _Dean_ , getting a hum as a response. She raised an eyebrow as she noticed that  _Dean_  hadn't stopped staring at Selena and while she found that to be a bit odd because he hadn't been doing that yesterday, she didn't think much of it. "What'd you call it?" she asked, unable to recall what the  _made-up_  creature's species was.

        "A shapeshifter,"  _Dean_  told her for a second time, perhaps a third. It looked over at her as she laughed, finally looking away from Selena. It watched as Rebecca rolled her eyes. "Yeah, maybe we're crazy. But what if we're not? I mean, look. You said it yourself that Zach was in two places at once. Now, tell me how that can happen." It was trying a little too hard to sleep with her or maybe not hard enough at the moment because how would telling Rebecca about its own existence make her want to sleep with it? Made no sense. It didn't seem to have thought shit through. Did it really think that Rebecca would trust it, or Dean, after hearing that, something that Rebecca believed to be nonsense? And it still wasn't sure about what exactly it wanted to do with Selena but it did know that it wanted to break her spirit.

        Rebecca rolled her eyes again but she decided to play along with whatever this was, still not believing it for a second. She was kind of curious as to how this conversation would end, though. "Okay. So, this thing, it can make itself look like anybody?"  _Dean_  responded with a  _that's right_  and Rebecca chuckled, shaking her head slightly in disbelief but continued playing along. "Well, what is it, like a genetic freak?" she asked heartlessly.

        Selena frowned upon hearing this and she eyed the shifter, noticing the hurt in its eyes that Rebecca failed to notice because she had looked away from  _Dean_. Selena started shaking her head as she looked towards Rebecca. She knew exactly what the shifter was feeling, in a way, and she spoke up finally, defending not only the shapeshifter but herself, her half-sisters, her other relatives, and most supernatural creatures. "He is not a freak," she stated. She continued staring at Rebecca with a frown still on her face as Rebecca, who had been looking at her hands, and the shifter, who had been staring at Rebecca, looked towards her (Selena). "You have no right to judge someone upon just hearing of them. You may only be allowed to judge when their personality is truly very negative and unchangeable. The shapeshifter, he is merely different from everyone else and cannot help what he has done." Selena really wished for this to end in a civil manner. She didn't want anyone else to get hurt but she didn't want the shifter to get hurt either. Maybe it, the shifter, could change its ways and be, well, better. She looked down at her lap as she suddenly became self conscious from their eyes being on her.

        _Dean_  didn't really react to what Selena said, although the hurt in its eyes vanished and an unknown emotion took its place. As it eyed Selena with uncertainty, Rebecca just raised one of her eyebrows before scoffing, shaking her head as she looked towards her right for no reason. In Rebecca's mind, Selena had either some really serious sanity issues or too many things were placed into her naive mind by the brothers and Riley. Beside her,  _Dean_  continued staring at Selena with uncertainty before nodding its head. Honestly, the shifter hadn't expected Selena to respond like that. Now, it was rethinking its plans for her. If it couldn't bed Rebecca, maybe it could bed Selena with less difficulty.

        "I think Selena may be a little right about that,"  _Dean_  finally said. It looked towards Rebecca as Rebecca looked towards it, Selena looking back up to look towards it as well. It didn't really explain as to what it agreed with and it spoke of something of its own opinion, somewhat revealing what it had agreed with. Kind of. "Evolution is about mutation, right? So, maybe this thing was born human but was different." It frowned as it continued. "Hideous and hated until he learned to become someone else." Rebecca looked away from it, looking around the room as she felt uncomfortable suddenly with this little 'game' she went along with. "It's funny,"  _Dean_  continued as it reached for a beer bottle that sat on the coffee table, the coffee table in which Selena just so happened to sort of be leaning against, since she was sitting on the floor in between the table and the couch (who knows why she chose to sit there).  _Dean_  stared at the fire as it continued onward with its speaking. "I kind of understand him. He's all alone, close to no one. All he wants is for someone to love him." It paused for a moment before speaking further. "He's like me." It looked down towards Selena momentarily, noticing the sadness in her eyes, and then it looked towards Rebecca, seeing that she was avoiding making eye contact with it. "Everybody needs a little human touch now and then. It's so hard to be different." It reached forward and tucked some of Rebecca's hair behind her ear, causing her to shrug away from his touch. It looked back down towards Selena, growing annoyed with Rebecca. "What about you, Selena? What are your thoughts on this?"

        Selena tilted her head slightly as she stared back at the shifter. She could hear the irritation in its tone and she knew that Rebecca was only causing it to slowly become hostile. Maybe she'd be able to calm it down with her response. "I believe that you may be right. Perhaps all he wishes is for love and when he does not get it, he retaliates by killing the woman that refuses him." She half-smiled. "I am sure that there's someone out there that'll love him for him. Everyone deserves a little love in their life, whether it is from family, friends, or a lover." The shifter appeared to smile back at her after hearing her thoughts but the smile became more smug as the shifter looked back towards Rebecca.

        "You should go, Dean, and you should take Selena with you on your way out," Rebecca stated as she refused to look towards  _Dean_. Her uncomfortable expression became one of disgust as  _Dean_  whispered something into her ear. She quickly stood up, took a few steps away from the couch, and turned back towards it, fed up with the crap. "You are disgusting! Just get the hell out of here! Both of you!" Selena and the shifter both stood up, Selena only standing up to place herself in between Rebecca and the shifter. Things were going down south very fast.

        "Rebecca," Selena said in a very soft tone as she eyed her. "Please, just relax and let's settle this calmly." She knew that the shifter was now very much on the edge of becoming murderous. She needed to defuse this situation fast before the shifter killed them both out of spite. She wasn't exactly sure how she was gonna do that but she'd figure it out as time moved forward. However, she didn't get a chance to figure out anything because of Rebecca.

        "Relax?!" Rebecca exclaimed as she glared at Selena. "Relax?! How can I relax?!" She turned her glare towards  _Dean_. "What is wrong with you?!" she yelled in question.  _Dean_  was acting so differently than from what she had witnessed the day before. She was confused, she was uncomfortable, she felt offended, she felt pissed, and she felt like she was in danger, meaning she felt scared. Additionally, she couldn't believe Selena was taking the side of  _Dean_. Had Selena been agreeing with him because she actually agreed or was her friendship with him that corrupted? She just didn't know. She just knew that she wanted  _Dean_  and Selena out of her house so the nonsense would stop.

        "What's wrong with  _me_? What's wrong with  _you_?!"  _Dean_  was very close to being pushed over the edge. It would had walked up to Rebecca and would had gotten in her face but Selena was blocking its way. Although it could easily push Selena onto the couch so that it could approach Rebecca, it didn't do such a thing. It didn't necessarily want to harm Selena anymore.

        "I'm calling the police," Rebecca declared as she strolled across the room, walking behind the couch and over to where the phone laid, picking it up. That was the comment that set the shifter off completely. The shifter turned around and walked after Rebecca, walking around the couch without knowing that Selena was quickly following behind it, and it tossed the phone to the ground, ripping it out of Rebecca's grasp. Rebecca screamed at the shifter and tried to run away but it grabbed onto her. Selena grabbed onto the shifter's left arm in retaliation and out of instinct but even if she was going to do something, she was knocked unconscious when the shifter elbowed her in the face. The shifter didn't release its hold on Rebecca but it did glance down towards where Selena laid once he heard her hit the floor with a thud. The shifter became angrier and it took that anger out on Rebecca, pinning her to the floor and tying her hands with the telephone cord. Rebecca was in for a world of hurt...

        When Selena finally awakened, she found herself on a bed within a bedroom instead of on the floor within the living room. She wasn't certain as to how she got there just yet because she was so disorientated. For a moment, she believed herself to be dreaming because of the lack of ropes on her person but the pain in her cheek told her otherwise, revealing that this was reality. Her eyes shifted from the ceiling to the left side of the room as she slowly sat up, coming to realize that the shifter had placed her into this room but she wasn't certain as to why it did. She recalled it elbowing her in the face when she grabbed it but she had expected to find herself tied to a chair with many wounds on her body, yet the only wound she had was the bruise on her cheek that formed because of the assumingly accidental hit.

        "You're awake," Selena suddenly heard someone say, causing her to jump as she quickly turned to face the person who had spoken. The voice belonged to the shapeshifter or rather  _Dean_  since the shifter was still in the guise of her good, perhaps close, friend. It was frowning at her from where it stood, displeased by her reaction towards it as it mistook her startlement for fear. "Don't be afraid," it told her. "I'm not going to hurt you. I had planned on it but you sided with me unexpectedly." The shifter approached the bed slowly and sat beside her, watching her closely as she stared back at it. Noting the lack of fear in her eyes, it smiled a little and reached out towards her face, touching the cheek that it had bruised. It released a sigh when she flinched at its touch, much like her elder sister had when it had touched her earlier that night but it was unaware that Selena was only flinching because of the stinging pain that she felt due to its touch. "I didn't mean to hurt you," it explained, "But you got in my way."

        Selena was silent for a moment, thinking over what it just said to her. It didn't sound angry, it didn't seem to want to hurt her, and it didn't seem to want to lead her into a false sense of security. If she had been fearful of the shifter, she would had relaxed because of those observations but she wasn't scared of it at all, not even the slightest. Not yet, at least. She didn't have a reason to be scared, even though she was very much aware of its capability of brutally murdering innocent people. No, she believed that she still had a chance to change its mind and that she would be perfectly alright if she just remained on its good side, his slightly humane side. With that in mind, Rebecca popped into her head and a frown appeared on her face. "Where's Rebecca?" Selena asked finally, wondering what happened to her. "Did you cause harm to her?" She needed to know. She didn't see Rebecca in sight and now that she was examining the shifter's clothing (and overall appearance) swiftly, she noticed some blood smeared on its cheek and the shirt it was wearing. Seeing this had caused her to become worried about Rebecca and she hoped that the young woman was alive if not alright.

        "I did what I had to," it answered without hesitation, dropping its hand from her cheek. It watched as Selena reacted in a negative way, watching as she lowered her head into her hands with tears willing up in her eyes. Selena had known of the possibility of Rebecca being either dead or seriously injured but actually hearing the shifter indirectly confirm it had made her become upset because she had failed in her attempts to prevent something horrible from happening. The shifter continued speaking with her, beginning to say something that would undoubtedly harm her emotionally. "People like her don't understand us and that's something you need to be aware of. Your friend, Dean, is a fine example." Selena lifted her head up as she looked back towards the shifter, confused with tears still in her eyes. "He's never admitted it out loud but he's terrified of you. I have his thoughts, his memories. He's scared of what you could become after your little meltdown, which was awesome by the way. He even thought about sending a bullet through your skull the second he learnt that you weren't normal and after what you did in that shop, it made him regret never doing it when he had the chance. Humans, you can't trust them because they can never trust you," it lied. Of course it was lying, it wanted to emotionally scar her and corrupt her, shape her into its own image of what it wanted for a lover, or a slave, and it appeared to be working because she shook her head in disbelief, a few tears spilling down her cheeks as she wondered if that was really true. It placed its hand over one of hers, her having placed her hands down onto her legs, and it lightly stroked it. "You have such soft skin," it informed her in a seductive tone.

        Selena remained quiet temporarily as she instantly began to feel uncomfortable with the sudden advances coming from the shifter that was still appearing as Dean. She really wished it had turned into someone else, anyone but Dean. Her chest was hurting something awful because of the shifter's hard words that she was unsure to believe or not but now she was additionally unease by everything that was occurring. She didn't necessarily fear the shifter but she certainly didn't like what would proceed next. If she was to fear anything, she was going to fear the act that may or may not ensue between the two of them. She lightly moved her hand from underneath the shifter's hand, moving to brush some of her hair from her face as she looked away from the shifter. "...Can you refrain from touching me any further?" she asked politely, shifting uncomfortably on the bed. She quickly realized her mistake as she glanced back towards the shifter, noting the flash of anger in its eyes. "I do not have experience with that sort of nature. I am of no use to you in my current state," she added on, speaking only the truth to avoid more anger from the shifter. She was very much hoping that the shifter had some morals, at least, and that it would leave her be upon hearing this information but she was sadly very mistaken.

        The anger that had slowly began forming in the shifter's eyes vanished and it nodded at her, making her think for a moment that it wasn't going to proceed with anything she wouldn't like. However, that wasn't the case. "Don't worry about that," it told her as it smirked. "It'll make this all the more fun." It leaned closer to her and she retaliated by scooting backwards until her back hit the headboard, her suddenly feeling very fearful. Sadly, she was still refusing to cause harm to the shifter despite what was happening because she still believed that it could be swayed to be better and as terrifying as it was, she was willing to allow this to happen if it meant that there was a possibility of the shifter stopping its evil deeds of physically harming women. The shifter chuckled as it moved to be on top of her and it leaned forward, placing its head by her left ear. "I'll take care of you," it whispered before lowering its head towards her neck, its lips connecting with it as it began kissing her there. Selena shook from fright as she grew more anxious, not liking the situation but still allowing it to happen for supposedly the greater good. "Don't be afraid," it said as it paused its kissing of her neck. "I'll be gentle. Mostly." It kissed up her neck after that and it placed its right hand on her stomach, sliding his hand up her long-sleeved shirt and towards her bra-covered breasts. It moved to lay a kiss upon her lips as she just laid there shaking but this action was prevented when it heard the sound of a gunshot coming from downstairs. It growled in anger as it removed itself from Selena, getting off the bed as well. "I'll come back for you later," it told her before it stormed out of the bedroom, leaving Selena shaking on the bed as more tears finally streamed down her cheeks...

**~(Approximately) Between February 28th-March 7th, 2006; St. Louis, Missouri~**

        Dean, Riley, and Sam stood in front of a store window, staring at the television sets that displayed a news report of what had occurred at Rebecca's household. When a sketch of Dean appeared on the screen, Sam began to look around the area as people walked by, no longer listening to the rest of the broadcast. Riley stomped one of her feet angrily, impatiently, and repeatedly as she stared at the playing broadcast, disliking what she was hearing entirely. Dean, on the other hand, appeared to be more concerned about the sketch of him than anything else. Get your priorities in line, Dean. "Man!" Dean exclaimed, gesturing up towards the screen, towards the sketch. "That's not even a good picture!"

        Sam continued to look around the area cautiously, eyeing the people on the street. "It's good enough." He began to walk away from the store after tapping Riley on the shoulder. Riley stopped tapping her foot and she roughly tapped Dean's shoulder before she followed after Sam. Dean let out a groan and a whine about the sketch before he followed behind the two. The three of them entered another alleyway, Dean stepping into a puddle that Riley and Sam both avoided, instantly complaining about it afterwards as he continued following the two of them.

        "It's just a puddle, Winchester. Suck it up," Riley remarked after hearing Dean's complaint about a mere puddle. She shook her head as she walked beside Sam, hearing Dean walk faster behind them as he hurried to be walking alongside Riley and Sam. "The woman he talked about being in a bedroom, that had to have been Selena. There's no doubt in my mind that it was her," Riley continued, speaking of the broadcast they watched. The news reporter had stated that two women had been found inside a house, one tied up and injured while the other was found crying in a bedroom, mostly unharmed.

        Sam looked over at Riley as they continued walking. "She wasn't harmed, Riley." He was trying to reassure her but it sounded like he was trying to reassure himself. Selena had been found within a bedroom.  _A bedroom._ Only one thing crossed his mind when thinking about a bedroom and he didn't like where his thoughts were going. If the news cast had failed to mention everything and the three of them learnt that Selena had been sexually assaulted, not only would they beat the shifter three times as hard as they would had but things between Dean and Selena would no longer be the same because of the shifter. Thankfully, and unbeknownst to them, it was only an attempted assault of the sexual nature but regardless, it was likely that Dean and Selena's friendship would be awkward or unpleasant for a while.

        Sam's small attempt at reassuring Riley failed. "Physically, sure, but you heard them, Sam. She was found crying inside of a bedroom, sitting terrified on a bed." She stopped her walking and turned fully to Sam, Dean and Sam both stopping their walking as well. Sam faced Riley's front and Dean faced Riley's back. "He must've... He might had... You know..." Riley was struggling to get the words out, not wanting them to be a reality. She really hoped that it wasn't true but just the thought of it hurt her and if it really had happened, she was officially the worst protective older sister ever. "Oh, God. What if he did?" Riley questioned as she voiced her concern and worry to both brothers, even though she was only facing the youngest brother. "I'm suppose to protect her from that sort of thing, Sam." She turned away from Sam, facing in the direction they had been heading and she placed her hands in her hair as she took two steps forward, tears in her eyes as she slightly looked upwards at the dark sky. "I'm a horrible excuse for an older sister." There was only one thing that she knew for certain, however; she was going to kill that son of a bitch for laying a finger on Selena.

        Feeling a hand on her right shoulder, Riley felt herself being turned towards her right and her eyes met the eyes of Dean as he placed his other hand on her left shoulder. "No, you're not," Dean disagreed as he stared into her eyes. "None of us could've known that he'd end up where she was." He paused for a second before continuing, mentioning the broadcast. "They didn't mention anything that bad so nothing happened to her. Okay? We'll find her and she'll be fine." He removed his hands from her shoulders but continued staring into her eyes. "And we'll kill the son of a bitch for even thinking about touching her." Riley sniffled as she stared back at Dean, nodding slowly before she wiped her eyes as she broke eye contact with him.

        "They also said attempted murder," Sam spoke up, making Dean and Riley look towards him. He was speaking of what they learnt about Rebecca. His friend had gotten the worst end of the deal with the shapeshifter, her having been beaten and all that. Actually, in reality, both Rebecca and Selena had received the worst end of the deal, just on opposites sides; Rebecca got beaten and was nearly killed while Selena was almost raped, something that Sam refused to think about. "At least we know-" Sam began but he was unable to finish because Dean finished his sentence for him with a frustrated-sounding 'I didn't kill Rebecca'. Sam nodded slightly as he stared at Dean, an eyebrow raised as he wondered how Dean became frustrated again when he had been calm whilst speaking with Riley. "We'll check with Rebecca in the morning, see if she's alright."

        Riley scoffed as she watched Sam. "We'll check with her right goddamn now." She had gone from worried, to upset, to angry and worried. "Selena was with her, Sam! Aren't you worried about what happened to her?!" She needed to know what had happened. She needed to know if Selena had been assaulted or not. Either way, the shapeshifter was dead meat but she still wanted to know what had occurred to her little sister.

        Sam frowned at her. "Of course I am but we need to keep a straight head about this and deal with the shapeshifter first before he can do any more harm." As much as the three of them wanted to know if Selena was alright (and Rebecca too), their first priority had to be them getting rid of the shifter. It could easily get away from them and move on elsewhere, killing more people and they couldn't have that. Killing it as soon as possible was what they needed to worry about right now. Riley let out a growl, showing her disapproval of this, but she nodded in agreement with his words.

        "I call dibs on kicking the holy crap out of the handsome devil when we find him," Dean remarked, more of his returned frustration coming out. His reasoning for having been temporarily calm earlier was because of how upset Riley had been and he had wanted to calmly stop her from crying more. He honestly didn't like it when she got upset, though that was a rarity to see most days because usually, she was just constantly pissed off for no reason. Well, it _seemed_ like she was constantly pissed off for no reason. His reasoning for being frustrated again was because of all the talk about the shifter that was masquerading around as him.

        Sam looked towards Dean, giving him a look. "We have no weapons. No silver bullets," he pointed out. Then, what the hell was with all the talk about kicking its ass before checking on Rebecca and Selena? Why suggest killing the shifter but then state that they have nothing to kill it with? Like really? Why? What the hell, man?

        "Sam, the guy's walkin' around with my face, okay? It's a little personal. I wanna find him," Dean told him, frustration in his tone still. "And he needs to pay for whatever he did or tried to do to Selena," he added, anger in his tone this time. In the back of his mind, he was worried about how his friendship with Selena would be after this mess was over with. Would they still be close or would Selena be afraid of him because of the shifter, making their friendship awkward and uncomfortable? This made it all the more reason to brutally murder the son of a bitch for laying a hand on Selena in the first damn place.

        Sam stared at Dean for a moment before speaking. "Where do we look?" Where do they start their search for the shapeshifter again? Do they have to go to Rebecca's to find another trail or did they just have to reenter the sewers and find it through luck?

        "For starters," Riley spoke up, having been quiet for a few minutes. Dean and Sam both looked towards her. "As Sam had pointed out, we have no weapons so we need to get back to the car, which the shifter probably took to Rebecca's and considering that it ran off on foot when the police got there, the car is most likely still there just waiting for us to reunite with it. Then after we get the guns and the required ammunition, we go back down into those horrible fucking sewers and blast its ass, or heart, with silver bullets. And finally, we can check up on Selena. And Rebecca also, I guess." She honestly didn't give two shits about Rebecca at this point, only caring about her sister and killing the shapeshifter; hell, she hadn't cared about Rebecca the entire time, only worrying about Selena. Sam could worry about Rebecca but Riley sure as hell wasn't going to worry about someone she barely knew unless they were worthy of her worrying about them.

        Sam nodded in agreement with her plan but Dean didn't agree to anything, instead appearing to be visibly upset by something she had stated. "The thought of him drivin' my car," he practically growled out. "It's killin' me." The Impala was his baby and no one messed with his baby. No one. This was another reason why he wanted to kill the shapeshifter himself.

        Riley rolled her eyes as she began to finally walk down the alleyway again, Dean and Sam following suit with this motion. "It's just a car, Winchester," she remarked. Dean glared at her, a glare in which she missed because she wasn't looking at him, instead looking straight ahead. "Just let it go."

        The three hunters reached Rebecca's household in no time, not without Dean complaining about everything along the way there. Upon seeing the Impala on the curbside, Dean had shut the hell up and smiled, happy to see his baby again. However, his happiness was short-lived because when the three of them took a step towards the vehicle, a police car pulled up behind it. The three of them began to backtrack towards where they came from as the police car backed up to be parked in front of the Impala because the officer driving had spotted them immediately. However, when the three hunters went back around the corner they came from, they spotted another police vehicle parked at the end of the street with its lights flashing brightly in the night. Immediately, Dean thought quickly and sprinted over to the fence that was behind the three of them, suggesting that they hop over it but Sam refused to do such, suggesting that he and Riley stay behind to let Dean escape. Although Riley was very reluctant to allow Dean to go alone again, she stayed behind with Sam as Dean hopped the fence and Riley surrendered with Sam as four police officers approached them.

        At the break of dawn, Riley and Sam were released from the police station. Both of them immediately got transportation to Rebecca's home and they approached the front door, choosing to check up on Rebecca and Selena since they both had no idea where Dean was. Just seconds after the door opened, Riley immediately asked if Selena was there with  _Rebecca_ , not bothering to pay attention to the smell coming from  _Rebecca_  (the shifter was now portraying as Sam's friend instead of Dean).  _Rebecca_  told Riley that Selena was upstairs as it realized that Riley hadn't scented it yet. Riley took off past it as  _Rebecca_  lead Sam to the living room to have some beer.

        Riley searched each room until she finally found the one that Selena was within, unaware of the shifter knocking Sam out downstairs; she was too worried about Selena to bother noticing the shifter's scent. Selena was sitting on the very bed where the shifter had came onto her, her head down towards the floor as she sniffled, rubbing her nose slightly. "Selena," Riley said, making Selena's head snap up towards her. She walked towards her younger sister quickly and wrapped her arms around her, hugging her tightly for a moment before releasing her, placing her hands on either of Selena's shoulders. Selena stared back at Riley, tears in her eyes. "Did he hurt you? Are you okay? What happened? What can I do?" Riley rapidly questioned her as she saw how upset Selena was, fearing the worse possible thing.

        "He tried to..." Selena couldn't continue her sentence as her voice cracked and she began to sob, leaning forward and burying her head against Riley's shoulder. She had been so terrified of what would had happened if not for the police showing up when they did and additionally, because she had some time to think it over, she was quite upset with herself. She couldn't believe that she had been willing to allow the shifter to rape her, just because she wanted to see if she could bring out some goodness in it. What the hell was great about it trying to rape her? There was nothing good about that at all and nothing good would had resulted from that, she realized that now. But she still wanted to believe that the shifter had some sort of goodness in it, despite all these horrible things it had done or had almost done. It just wanted some love for once, but it needed to learn that it shouldn't try to force love (if it could even be called that).

        "Oh, Selena," Riley softly said as she held onto Selena, rubbing Selena's head gently. She was relieved that the act hadn't progressed to something worse but she was still pretty pissed off about hearing of the attempt. She was trying to remain gentle-spoken to ease Selena's emotional state but she couldn't contain her anger anymore. "That son of a bitch. I won't let him touch you again. He won't lay another goddamn finger on you, I swear it. I'll protect you this time," she told Selena in a rough, angry tone. However, despite her released anger, she gently pushed Selena away from her so that she could look into her tear-filled eyes. "Do you have any idea where he could be, other than the sewers?" She was definitely going to make sure that she was the one to kill the thing. Touching Selena was a definite no-no but scaring Selena and herself half to death was a bigger no-no.

        Selena's eyes widened as she looked past Riley. Despite her emotions of anxiety and fear from what had almost occurred earlier, she needed to warn her elder sister of the danger lurking behind her, the shifter quickly approaching Riley from behind. "Riley-!" she exclaimed in attempted warning. Riley spun around quickly with wide eyes but she was unable to defend herself as she was knocked out by an empty beer bottle that connected with her head. Selena let out a loud whimper as she watched Riley drop to the floor, unconscious. Despite her emotions, she glared at the shifter with hatred because of what it just did to Riley; kind-hearted or not, no one messed with her family and got away with it. Perhaps she had been entirely wrong to believe that there was something good inside of this monster standing before her.

        The shifter just smirked at Selena, actually quite pleased with the sudden fire in Selena's eyes. Although it liked that she was very innocent and kind, it liked that she had some sort of backbone. "Right here," it answered the question of the unconscious Riley, letting out a chuckle as it looked down towards where she laid. "This is going to be funnier than I thought." It looked back up towards Selena and continued smirking, evil intentions in mind...

**~(Approximately) Between February 28th-March 7th, 2006; St. Louis, Missouri~**

        Downstairs within Rebecca's kitchen, the shifter roughly slammed Sam's back against a pool table after finishing with tying Sam's hands and feet with rope. On the floor across from them was a pile of women's clothing and a large pile of skin, the shifter having changed back into the form of Dean and had placed back on some of Dean's clothing along with Dean's amulet. The shifter smirked as Sam quickly came to and it began to walk around the nearby kitchen, leaving Sam where he sat. Sam looked around the living room, spotting Riley laying unconscious on the floor (the shifter had carried her in there from upstairs and hadn't bothered tying her up) and Selena sitting in a protective posture on the floor near Riley, a hard look on her face as she watched the shifter (regardless of the shifter having wanted her down there, Selena went downstairs willingly to be near Riley and to make sure no harm came to her, and Sam also when she learnt that he was there too).

        Sam stared at Selena with worry in his eyes. She met his gaze after a moment, looking away from the shifter's back and her hard look softened as she stared back at Sam. Sam opened his mouth to speak to her but no words came out. He wanted to ask what happened but he also didn't want to know because of the horrible reality that would set in if his thoughts were confirmed. Selena tilted her head at him as she stared at him questionably, unusually calm all of a sudden when she was all over the place earlier with her emotions. She glanced towards Riley, recalling the short conversation they had before the shifter rudely interrupted and she looked back towards Sam, shaking her head with a half-smile on her face and she retrieved a look of relief from Sam. Sam laid his head back against the counter and let out a slightly shaky breath. "What are you gonna do to us?" he asked the shifter without looking towards it, his eyes towards the ceiling now.

        _Dean_  looked over at Sam. "Oh, I'm not gonna do anything. Dean will, though." First, it was going to kill Sam because it didn't really like him and he was getting on its nerves. Then, it was going to rape and kill Riley while she was still unconscious because she'd put up a fight. Next, it would finally rape Selena and it would likely kill her afterwards, depending on things; if she still had her sanity, it'll kill her but if she goes a little insane from witnessing everything it planned to do before it touched her, it'll keep her as a pet 'cause why not. Lastly, it would have Dean take all the blame for its actions because that's just how it rolled.

        "They'll never catch him," Sam stated. Dean could easily avoid the cops and make himself appear to have disappeared off the face of the planet while still being able to hunt for monsters. Sam glanced towards Selena, seeing that she was giving the shifter a hard look again. However, she, once again, was quick to notice that Sam was looking at her and she, once again, had a soft expression as she stared back at him, tilting her head. " _Everything will be fine_ ," he mouthed to her, even though there wasn't a need for him to do so; he figured that she was on the verge of freaking out and had been trying to hide it behind the hard look she never showed. Selena nodded and mouthed back  _I know_  before she glanced back towards the shifter; although she wasn't showing it, she was still being effected by what almost occurred to her and that just helped with her anger of what the shifter did to Rebecca and Riley, namely Riley.

        "Doesn't matter,"  _Dean_  stated. It opened up one of the drawers in the kitchen before closing it immediately afterwards, not finding what it was looking for. It looked towards Sam as its silver eyes became revealed again. "Murder in the first of his own brother?" It gestured towards Riley's unconscious figure. "Rape and murder of the woman he likes?" It started smirking as it looked over at Selena, chuckling when Selena's eyes had a flash of fear in them. "Rape of the woman he thinks of as a little sister? He'll be hunted the rest of his life. Maybe I should keep little Selena alive, living proof of what I've done to ruin his whole life. He wouldn't be able to look at her the same way or her him. He'll never live that down either, knowing that I used his form to do that to her." It chuckled again as it looked away from them both, picking up a large and sharp knife from the kitchen counter. "I must say, I will be sorry to lose this skin. Your brother's got a lot of good qualities." It placed the knife down on the table for a moment and grabbed a glass off the counter, beginning to pour itself a drink. It looked back towards Sam and rolled its eyes upon seeing that Sam was laying on the floor now instead of leaning against the pool table. "You should appreciate him more than you do," it finished before it downed its drink.

        The shifter placed down the glass and picked up the kitchen knife again, approaching the pool table. After walking over Sam and walking past Selena (and Riley), it slammed the blade of the knife down into the edge of the pool table as it stood beside Sam, smirking down at him before it looked towards the bag it had placed on the pool table. It began to fumble through it, ignoring Sam and Selena. Sam looked over at Selena as she looked over at him, Sam gesturing towards the knife; Sam wanted her to use her powers to help them in this situation. With her head in the correct place (knowing that this shifter couldn't be changed), she quickly lifted her right hand and sent the shifter flying a little ways across the living room with her telekinesis, making it do a roll. Even though that wasn't exactly what Sam had wanted, he took the chance to get up and brush the ropes against the knife vigorously, freeing himself from the rope on his hands (and then got rid of the ropes around his feet using his hands) quickly as the shifter stood up. Sam picked up the knife, facing the shifter as he got ready to fight back, all while Selena began to drag unconscious Riley out of the way, towards the kitchen counter.

        The shifter approached Sam cautiously as Sam kept the knife raised. Sam swung at it once, missing as it dodged and swung back a second time, his right arm getting caught in mid-swing by the shifter. The shifter twisted Sam's arm and Sam was flipped over the shifter's back, landing on the floor but Sam quickly rolled back onto his feet as he slowly stepped back, guiding the shifter away from Riley and Selena as he stepped further into the living room. "Oh, you son of a bitch," the shifter said as it quickly approached Sam, swinging its fists at him immediately when it reached him. Sam, in retaliation, dodged the punches and grabbed onto the shifter's right arm, attempting to slam it onto the floor but he was unable to pin it down as it quickly recovered and re-grabbed Sam's right arm, pinning it behind Sam's back before Sam quickly reversed the situation, Sam pinning the shifter's left arm behind its back. The shifter let out a loud laugh. "Not bad, little brother."

        "You're not him," Sam remarked angrily through gritted teeth. The shifter swung its right arm, its fist connecting with Sam's face. Sam released his hold on the shifter as he stumbled past it, tumbling into the couch, half laying on it for a second. The shifter approached him from behind but Sam turned, hitting it with a pillow before hitting it with one of his fists, making the shifter turn the opposite way of Sam due to the hard punch it got in the face and the shifter tumbled into the pool table, quickly getting up and turning around. More fist fighting ensued between the two of them but the shifter got the upper hand in the fight, kneeing Sam in the stomach before tossing him back towards the bookshelf, making Sam and the bookshelf collapse. Books and collapsed shelves fell on top of Sam as he laid on the floor, grunting and groaning.

        "Even when we were kids,"  _Dean_  began as he reached for the pool cue leaning against the wall beside the broken bookshelf. Sam crawled towards the pool table, using it as leverage to stand up again. "I always kicked your ass," it finished as it turned towards Sam. It began swinging the pool cue at Sam multiple times, missing Sam as Sam rolled out of the way constantly which caused the shifter to hit a light fixture instead. Sam kicked it back, making it stagger backwards a few steps and the two of them glared at each other, both with blood on their face. The two began fist fighting once more, the shifter landing punches and Sam landing punches. In the end, the shifter tackled Sam and they both went over the couch, landing on top of the coffee table which broke upon impact. The shifter pinned Sam to the floor, punched him in the face twice, and began to strangle him.

        While the fight had been taking place, Selena had remained by Riley as she watched everything occur. She had hesitated to help because she wasn't certain if Sam needed it, considering the many times he was able to overpower the shifter. However, she had began to notice that Sam was growing tired from the fight when she saw him barely move out of the way whenever the shifter had tried to hit him with a pool cue. Selena had thought quickly as she looked at her surroundings, knowing that her telekinesis wouldn't work and she certainly wouldn't do well with fist fighting against the shifter. She had eventually spotted a wall light socket and instantly thought about one of her elemental powers but she was going to need to create a spark before she would be able to use electricity against the shifter. So, she had quickly stood up and went around the kitchen counter to approach the opposite kitchen counter, grabbing one of the knives that remained and when she had returned to the floor by the socket, she had shoved the knife into it and thus created the spark she needed, which soon had turned into a larger spark that immediately connected with Selena. If she had been a normal person, she would had been shocked something fierce but she hadn't been harmed, instead electrically charging herself. That is what lead to what she was currently doing as she ran over to where the shifter had Sam pinned.

        Slamming her body into the shifter, Selena caused it to release Sam and they both tumbled over onto the floor, it landing on its back and her landing on top of it. Immediately, she grasped its throat and released all of the electrical currency that was residing within herself, electrocuting it as she supposedly, but not really, electrocuted herself in the process. The shifter let out a yelp of pain as it was electrocuted but this wasn't enough to kill it, not by a long shot and the shifter managed to knock her off of it through its pain, tossing her into the side of the couch. Selena let out a wince as her side connected with the couch rather hard before she landed on the floor. The shifter quickly made a move to attack her when it was pounced on by a large white wolf with glowing green eyes; Riley had awakened during Selena's assault against the shifter and she had transformed mid-jump as she went at the bastard. The shifter let out another yelp of pain as Wolf Riley bit into his arm, growling furiously at it as she did so. Wolf Riley began to attempt to rip the shifter's arm off as it started punching her snout with its free fist. Only when the shifter kicked her abdomen did she let go and it kicked her again, sending her backwards and onto Sam, who was only now catching his breath and had been beginning to sit up before he was knocked on his back when Wolf Riley landed on him.

        "Hey!" Dean yelled as he entered the room, gun raised at the shifter that still remained on its back, on the floor. He had gotten there as quickly as he could after finding Rebecca, the real Rebecca, within the sewers where they (Riley, Sam, and himself) had previously been held at. He glared at the shifter as the shifter stared back at him, getting up to its feet as it finally began to twitch uncontrollably from the electric currency that remained in its body and its left arm had a large chunk taken out of it, some of its skin dropping down to its feet in mucus-like liquid as the missing part of its body began to reform itself and its face was bloody from its fight with Sam; Riley, Sam, and Selena had done some damage to the shifter while Dean was on his way there. The shifter just stared down Dean, panting and grunting as it remained where it stood. Dean stared at the shifter, the other  _Dean_ , for another moment before firing two bullets into its chest, forcing the shapeshifter to fall back towards the wall behind it before it laid motionless and lifeless on the table it landed on.

        Rebecca entered the living room seconds later, looking around at the scene in front of her as she stood beside Dean. She eyed the other  _Dean_  that laid dead on a table, she eyed Selena who was slowly standing up beside the couch, she eyed Wolf Riley who turned back into normal Riley in a flash of green light, and she eyed Sam who laid underneath Riley still, Sam's forehead and nose oozing blood. "Sam!" Rebecca exclaimed as she ran over to him and Riley, dropping on her knees beside them as Riley helped Sam up once she got off him. Sam was looking worse than Rebecca did, her just having minor injuries and crazy hair. Rebecca held onto Sam as he lightly panted, his eyes focused on the shifter's corpse. Rebecca looked at Riley again, shock in her eyes as she finally grasped what she had seen and Riley shrugged, half-smiling at her.

        Dean slowly walked around the couch, stepping past Selena as he approached the corpse of the shifter. He stared at it as he crouched down beside it. The shifter's eyes were open, as lifeless as it was. Dean looked over at Rebecca, Riley, and Sam, not looking towards Selena, before he looked back at the corpse, ripping his amulet off of the shifter's neck as he reached for it. He stared at the amulet for a moment before pocketing it, standing back up. He looked down at his gun and put it away, tucking it inside his pants before he turned around to finally face Selena. He just stared at her, not saying anything as he wondered what the shifter did to her. Selena stared back at him with tears forming in her eyes and she stepped forward, approaching him slowly until she was right in front of him. "Selena..." Dean said, unsure what to say as he worried about what she would do. She did something he hadn't thought she'd do; she smiled and wrapped her arms around him, releasing tears of both joy and sadness. Dean reacted hesitatingly, wrapping his arms around her in response and he felt his eyes almost form tears of their own.

        Later that day, the four hunters were on the road again. Riley (who was thankfully not suffering from a concussion somehow) was in her own vehicle, following behind Dean's Impala that held Dean, Sam, and Selena. Sam was sitting in the back of the vehicle, remaining as close to Selena as possible after what had happened. Selena, however, showed no more signs of distress from what she had endured, appearing to be content with the occurrence, now that it had passed by completely. She knew that Dean and Sam were worried about her, and that Riley was worried too, but she didn't see a reason. She was alive still, she was okay, and while she was probably gonna have a few nightmares about what could had happened, she would be alright in the end. She smiled to herself as she laid her head against Sam's shoulder, thinking about how they had saved Rebecca and Zach. She hated that the police now thought that Dean Winchester, the real Dean, was a deceased murderer but that was the price of having this life. She just hoped nothing else would happen in the future where they'd end up going against the law...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trivia:
> 
> 1) All of Riley's powers have been shown. I recall mentioning a fire ability of hers (Fire Mimicry) but that won't be seen for quite a while because I decided that it will show up in either the next book or the book after that. Selena has shown her telekinesis, power of water, and power of electricity. Just ice, metal, and energy to go. Additionally, in the previous chapter, you saw her break a shit ton of glass objects with her telekinesis, meaning that she has yet unlocked her full potential, her true strength [to an extent] being released because of her being in distress, but upon what she said, she doesn't wish to unlock her full potential because it scares her; this is basically the beginning of something that'll be occurring to her, not necessarily within or throughout just this book. On another note involving the characters, I think it has become a bit obvious that Selena is only confrontational when someone is in great danger, specifically someone who she cares for (although, she does become a bit confrontational when strangers are in danger too, when she is in the right state of mind at least or when she is able).
> 
> 2) I am proud of this fanfiction. I don't care that it doesn't have many favorites or follows right now or whatever you wanna call it. All I care about is that I am getting my work out there, allowing whomever to see how I write. I am showing my talent. I am doing something I love very much. All I really ask for any of you whom are actually reading this is for you to just review every once in a while so that I can have some negative or positive feedback that is very much needed. It helps me grow to be a better writer. I am on the verge of creating a first person book series, the first few books possibly being published sometime soon if nothing happens that could change that occurrence. So, it is much appreciated if you let me know your thoughts on this so I can have some thought in mind as to better myself for when I create my first third person horror book. And I'm aware I've mentioned these thoughts, somewhat, before.
> 
> 3) By this point, my update schedule for this fanfiction is just about every two-four weeks. So be expecting an update around that point after each update from now on. And if I ever happen to update late, it's likely because of either another fanfiction or something dealing with real life like a blackout, random loss of internet connection, ebook publishing, exercising because my lack of movement is making my shoulders pop like a bitch and my back hunch up (don't be like me and be on your laptop all day long; take a break and fucking walk around or something before this happens to you also), etc.
> 
> 4) I apologize for calling the shapeshifter multiple things when referring to it. Still getting the hang of writing, even after many years of writing. I'm growing so please excuse that. Super sorry about it, though, with the calling it 'Dean', shifter, shapeshifter, it, and he. Sorry. Don't let it stop you from enjoying this story. We have a long way to go and I surely hope you stick around for the entire journey.
> 
> 5) Yes, while she had been all over the place after what occurred, Selena seemed fine and dandy at the end like nothing had ever happened basically but that'll be explained at some point in the next chapter (unless you can automatically realize the emotion she is feeling right now about the almost event).


	11. Hook Man

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shit is certain to go down when the Winchester brothers and the Grant-Piers half-sisters head to Ankeny, Iowa to deal with a vengeful spirit that's brutally killing college students. What could possibly go wrong...?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Important Added A/N: On a side note and completely off topic, there's this thing about net neutrality that's happening and people are saying that we may have to pay to use sites if the vote is passed. So like we MIGHT have to pay to use this site or Quotev or any other of our fanfiction sites. Like, I don't have a job and I do not have any money whatsoever but my parents do and unless all they have to do is pay our internet provider (or whomever) a bit more cash, they will not pay for individual sites per month or whatever IF that becomes the thing and we'll go without internet. That clearly would mean I will not be online anymore and I will not be continuing these stories if that happens. However, losing internet is not an option because of my book I've been writing for the past several years. So, short answer: I will be online still IF ONLY a bit extra money needs to be paid, if nothing really changes, or if the vote fails and everything remains as is because otherwise, I won't be seen again most likely or I won't be seen until sometime in the far future. We'll see what happens. So, if I randomly vanish for several months or more, you know why now.
> 
> Not my best chapter. Only parts I really enjoyed making were the dream sequences. I apologize for the delay. I apologize for any effy moments as well. I did my best.
> 
> Warnings: Original and Unoriginal Content/Dialogue, Errors of Any Kind, Long Chapter Ahead, Unoriginal Not-So-Important Character Introductions, Difficulty With Some Descriptions of Character Appearances/Scenery, Possibility of Incorrect Information/Out-of-Character Moments, Low/High Possibility of Unrealistic/Realistic Actions or Reactions, Violence, Scenes From Episode Are Missing, Changes Were Made to Episode (Placement of Buildings or Objects May Be Different to Better Fit Within Chapter, Etc.), Dream Sequences, Potential Foreshadowing of Future Events (Near and Far)
> 
> Only Selena's height is mostly portrayed realistically to that of the actress who plays her whenever I mention height (I imagine Hayden [Riley] and Victoria [Juliet] being taller as the characters I have them playing than how tall they actually are in real life). Just letting you know this, just because. Probably already told you this before but I needed something to fill in the author's note space. Hehe. :3 Love you. Do enjoy the chapter and thank you everyone who has been reading thus far (and has stuck around, aka followed or favorited the story). Much, much love to you all. *whispers* Still awaiting on some more feedback, though. Don't be shy, I don't bite hard. XD Lol, eh, you don't gotta do shit if you don't wanna but reviews are appreciated greatly. Lastly, I've been struggling to make chapters for this fanfiction, thanks to my anxiety issues that make me worry about leaving out shit which makes me reread absolutely everything more than one-hundred times in a row. Not very fun, if I'm honest, but it helps me add in some more details or reword things. Positives and negatives from it, basically. It's annoying, though, regardless but I try to make sure everything makes sense in the end.
> 
> Nina Dobrev as Selena Grant/The Doppelganger  
> Hayden Panettiere as Riley Piers

_Sweet low, sweet cherry, make it awful_  
_It's your life, it's your party, it's so awful_  
_Let's start a fire, let's start a riot; yeah, it's awful_  
_It was punk, yeah, it was perfect; now it's awful_

_(Awful : Hole)_

* * *

  **~Dreamland of Selena Grant~**

        _Blood was everywhere, covering absolutely everything. On the road, on the abandoned vehicles, on the walls of the buildings surrounding Selena Grant. Corpses of the innocent laid crippled and disfigured on the ground as she walked onward, horrified by the sight she was witnessing. What could have caused this destruction? Why was she here alone? How did she get here? Where were her friends, her half-sister? Wasn't she with them earlier? All of these questions circled around in her head as she walked and right before her very eyes, the Impala appeared out of nowhere but it was almost unrecognizable, half crushed and half balled-up (one half was flat as a door while the other half was made into a ball). Only something, or someone, supernatural could've caused this disaster. But why, why did this happen...? Why had she been unable to prevent it from occurring...?_

__As she stared at the car with her mouth gaping open in a mixture of shock and horror, new corpses appeared in front of her, making her jump from startlement, and she let out a loud shrieking sob when she recognized the corpses as the Winchester brothers and **both**  of her half-sisters. Each of them had their insides torn out, their eyes wide open and dull. Selena backed away from the scene, tears streaming down her cheeks and she felt herself run into something that hadn't been there beforehand, slowly turning around only to find herself staring at a very sadistic version of the person she often saw in the reflection of a mirror: herself. This other version of her wore a red dress that went to her thighs, with a long lacy cloth hanging down to its black-heel covered feet. _ _Selena's necklaces were missing from its body, both apparently having been disposed of by the creature along with Selena's ring._ _Covering its revealing skin was blood, both dry and fresh from its victims._ _This evil supernatural being smiled cruelly at her, tilting its head to the side just like Selena would do and it showed no remorse for what it had done. "It's only the beginning for us," the being told Selena, its voice sounding much like her own, yet different as it reached up with blood soaked hands. However, the scenery changed before the being's hands made it to Selena's face and the being vanished along with all the blood and corpses.__

__Instead of being on a road filled with corpses and a doppelganger, Selena was standing within a bedroom. Rebecca Warren's bedroom, to be precise. Her heart began to race as the memory of what almost happened flooded her mind and she turned around to attempt to exit the room, only to find that there wasn't a door for her to walk out of. She hit the wall, where the door should've been, several times before she turned back around, only to let out a scream when she came face to face with the shapeshifter, it posing as Dean like it had when it made its move on her (and when it died). "You have such soft skin," its voice echoed as it roughly placed its hands on her neck and the collar of her shirt. Selena released another scream, this one sounding more terrified than panicked as_ _her shirt was ripped off and the shifter's hands became a little too **touchy feely**...__

**~March 10th, 2006; Somewhere Near Ankeny, Iowa~**

        Selena jerked awake, a gasp escaping her lips as she opened up her eyes. Her head laying on her arms, her eyes adjusted to the brightness she awoken to and she quickly came to realize that she was still at an outdoor café with the very much living Winchester brothers and Riley Piers, her friends and one of her older half-sisters. She let out a sigh as she moved to sit correctly at the table, rubbing her eyes for a moment before she looked at her surroundings further. Dean Winchester was sitting to her right with an open laptop in front of him and Riley was sitting to her left with coffee in front of her, both of them eyeing Selena worriedly. Across from where the three of them sat, Sam Winchester was standing at a payphone, speaking to whomever it was on the other line; Selena must had been asleep for a while because Sam had been sitting with them before she dozed off, this action in which she was regretting right now because of what she had dreamt. Did her nightmare mean something? She wasn't entirely sure about that but it unsettled her greatly, most definitely.

        Dean frowned as he stared at Selena, worry still visible on his face. "Did you have another nightmare?" he asked her, trying not to sound as worried as he appeared. He wasn't oblivious to the dreams that Selena had been having for the past few days; he knew the symptoms of nightmares when he saw them. For example, Sam was still constantly having nightmares of his own, each resulting in him either yelling in his sleep or jerking around as he slept, sometimes both. Selena, she had been doing the latter rather than the former, jerking a bit whenever she was sleeping and it only seemed to be getting worse, in Dean's opinion. Well, he wasn't surprised that the dreams were getting worse, considering that Selena had been traumatized by a recent event but he still didn't like it. Dean was worried about Selena and while he wouldn't know how to comfort her about what happened, he'd like it better if she were more open about her distress instead of being distant about it.

        Selena rubbed her sweaty palms on her lovely laced-white day dress that went down to her knees. "Yes," she answered after a moment in a shaky voice. She gulped and let out a breath, glancing over at Dean as she placed her emotions under control. "But it was nothing, I promise. Nightmares occur for everyone and they will eventually pass with time. I can handle them." She smiled kindly at him before she looked down at her hands, not entirely confident that her true emotions would remain unseen. "You do not need to be worried for me. I shall be okay." Not once had she spoken of what her nightmares were about, letting the brothers and Riley assume that the nightmare was just about what had recently passed. In time, she'd tell them everything but not now, not when she didn't know what the first part of her nightmare meant. Right now, she'd rather worry about her future privately instead of worrying her loved ones more.

        Dean didn't press onward with the subject, knowing that he probably wouldn't get any information out of Selena about the nightmare. He simply released a sigh, stared at her for a few more seconds, and then looked back down at his laptop, going back to researching stuff and things while still feeling a bit worried about Selena. Riley, on the other hand, continued staring at Selena with worry but she, too, didn't press onward with the subject, knowing her younger half-sister too well. Supposedly. "When you wanna talk about it, Dean and I are here to listen," Riley informed Selena. "Sam too, whenever he gets finished with his phone call," she added on seconds later, gesturing over to where Sam stood. Riley let out a huff of breath as she watched Selena slightly nod and she (Riley) looked away from her, shaking her head slightly as she lifted up her plastic coffee cup, drinking from it. She was very worried about Selena and deep down, she wished that the shifter had gotten a much slower, more painful death than the one it had gotten from Dean but at least she had been able to inflict some damage to the shifter before its death.

        A few minutes passed by as the three of them sat there, them mostly doing nothing while they waited for Sam to return. Dean continued to stare at his laptop, Selena was gazing at the table instead of her hands, and Riley began to look around at everyone that was sitting or standing around where they were. Earlier, when Selena was jerking around slightly in her sleep, some of the customers had looked at them all oddly but now, no one was looking at them period and as Riley looked around further, she spotted someone who happened to be very attractive and she began to check him out, using him as a distraction from her thoughts of worry about Selena. However, this distraction didn't last very long because Dean glanced over at Riley after a short time had passed and he followed her line of sight out of curiosity, only to be displeased to learn that Riley was checking out some random dude. "Focus, Riley," Dean remarked to her, feeling envious but not showing it as he looked at Riley with narrowed eyes.

        Riley looked over at Dean. "But he's so hot, Dean. Like super smoking hot," she over-exaggerated. While the stranger was really attractive to her, she was mainly just saying this to get some sort of reaction from Dean since he seemed to dislike her actions but all he did was give her a nasty, unamused look before he rolled his eyes and he looked back at his laptop. Riley frowned and sighed, slouching in her chair as she crossed her arms. "Fine. I was bored of staring at him anyways." She was kind of acting as if she was a child that wasn't getting their way; she had only wanted to be distracted from her worries but Dean took that distraction away and he additionally failed to show any jealousy. Why she was even listening to him in the first place was beyond her but it was whatever since the distraction wasn't really working anyways. She uncrossed her arms after a moment and she reached up to the top of her head, messing with her white headband. Just like Selena, Riley was wearing a day dress of her own but it was a striped black-and-white one and while Selena was wearing simple black heels to go with her dress, Riley was wearing black knee-high boots with some black leggings and she had thrown on the headband just because, only for it to go well with her attire. Riley huffed as she laid her hands on her thighs, shaking her head as she looked at Dean again, watching him fumble with his laptop. Honestly, she thought it was a little bit unfair that Dean could check out every female they walked by but then she wasn't allowed to do the same with any guy or girl she found attractive; it wasn't like she'd actually do something with them like Dean would with those ladies and that thought right there was enough to make her envious, again, of those women that caught Dean's eyes regularly. Hell, the only reason why she was wearing a dress was to get some reaction from Dean but she got none, assumingly.

        Not even a minute had gone by when Sam finally returned to the table, clearly frustrated out of his mind. The phone call, or phone calls, must had not gone very well for him to be acting like this. His frustration was clear to see, considering that he roughly pulled out his chair and the expression on his face truly said it all about how he was feeling right now. "Your, uh, half-caf, double vanilla latte is gettin' cold over here,  _Francis_ ," Dean mumbled, his eyes still on the laptop screen as he heard Sam sit down with them again.

        "Bite me," Sam remarked. He was so not in the mood for any sort of teasing. He shoved his right hand into his jacket, putting away a piece of paper roughly, the paper possibly having the number he called on it. He was shaking his head in frustration. "I had 'em check the FBI's Missing Persons Data Bank. No John Doe's fitting Dad's description. I even ran his plates for traffic violations." That's what he had been doing, trying to locate their father but once again, he and his brother were at a dead end. Even with Riley and Selena's help (which they weren't giving at the moment but had done so at other times), the two brothers kept coming to a dead end. Sam tossed his hands in the air as he leaned back against his chair, letting out some of his frustration. He really wanted to find their father because with their father's help, they could find the thing that killed Jess (and their mother) and finally get rid of it but that goal of his was just taking too long to accomplish. Far too long and he freaking hated it.

        Riley sighed as she stared at Sam. "Well... He isn't dead, Sammy. 'Least we know that much." She was trying to stay on the positive side of things, kind of like Selena does most of the time. Although, it would be easier to find the man if he were dead but that wouldn't be very helpful for any of them. Additionally, she preferred to know more than just that much because their father and the creature were the only reasons why she, and Selena, were sticking around them. However, once these two were hunted down, and the creature was killed, they (the two sets of siblings) would most likely go their separate ways and never see one another again. Honestly, Riley wasn't looking forward to that moment because she rather liked the company of the Winchesters, regardless of her attraction for the older Winchester brother (which was an added bonus).

        "It's Sam," he corrected her grumpily, not even glancing in her direction as he stared at the table with disappointment on his face. Riley scoffed and rolled her eyes, muttering a  _whatever_  under her breath as she looked away from him and towards Selena. She raised an eyebrow as she took notice of Selena's sudden calm, cool and collected posture, Selena now looking towards Sam instead of at her hands or at the table, no signs of distress visible. This gesture caused Riley to be a bit confused as to how Selena went from being panicked to being so calm and unbothered but she didn't voice this confusion out loud and kept it to herself as she just simply looked away from Selena, looking back towards Sam. Sam was still looking at the table, disappointment still on his face. Typical impatient Sam behavior.

        Dean finally looked away from the laptop, looking over at Sam. "Sam, I'm tellin' ya, I don't think Dad wants to be found." He was aware of their situation and he was frustrated about this as well but it was better for them to keep level heads about it than let their frustration cause them to be reckless. As much as he really wanted to find their father too, he was willing to be patient about it. He stared at Sam for a few more seconds, watching Sam continue to look at the table in disappointment. Dean looked back at his laptop and began to turn it towards Sam. "Check this out," he instructed as he moved a journal off of the keyboard before pointing at the screen that was now facing Sam. "It's a news item out of  _Plains Courier_. Ankeny, Iowa. It's only about a hundred miles from here," he informed Sam. Riley tilted her body towards Sam, taking a glimpse at the article Dean was speaking of. Selena remained in her seat and awaited for someone to read the article out loud so that she could be informed of what it was about, her not being able to see the screen of the laptop.

        Sam was the one who began to read out loud what was said within the article. " _The mutilated body was found near the victim's car, parked on Nine Mile Road. Authorities are unable to provide a realistic description of the killer. The sole eyewitness, whose name has been withheld, is quoted as saying the attacker was invisible._ " Sam glanced at Dean after finishing his reading, uninterested in what he just read out loud. Riley raised an eyebrow at the last part, mouthing the last few words Sam had read; yep, it still sounded crazy even with her not actually repeating it with volume. Selena tilted her head in response to what she heard, a thoughtful look on her face as she thought about what could have caused that incident. Dean, well, Dean was being Dean, like always.

        Dean had took a sip of his beverage as he listened to Sam read, glancing over at Selena out of instinct because he was still worried about her. However, he became just as confused as Riley had when he noticed Selena's leveled posture. For a split second, he thought someone had spiked his drink and now he was seeing things (and he even looked at his beverage suspiciously when the thought crossed his mind) but nope, that couldn't be the case. After thinking for a second, he shook his head and he immediately decided that he was just gonna ignore what he just saw, and go back to focusing on what was happening. "Could be something interesting," he stated as he looked back towards Sam, talking about the article.

        "Could be?" Riley questioned. She scoffed seconds later as Dean, Sam, and Selena looked towards her. "Dude. It  _is_  something interesting, my dear dumb friend." Dean glared at her and she ignored him. "A mutilated body? The stories behind that sort of thing are always interesting, regardless of if it was caused unnaturally or not. It's fucking amazingly awesome." She shrugged. "Yeah, the witness was probably as high as a kite when the guy was killed, but I'm still very intrigued and want to know what had supposedly happened." She sounded very insensitive towards the deceased boy's death but she didn't know him, therefore she didn't give a shit. Dead is dead and she tended to have no respect for those dead folks, depending on her mood and right now, her mood was slightly sour.

        Selena frowned at Riley, disliking her choice of words. "You should not sound so happy about seeing corpses of human beings." She herself had seen enough of those in her nightmare, and in life, and it brought her nothing but discomfort and sadness. She lightly gestured with her hand for no particular reason, other than for emphasis of her next words. "However, I do agree that it does sound like something we need to look into further." This sort of thing happens for one of two reasons: something supernatural had come out to play or someone human with evil intentions had come out to play. Either way, she believed that it would be best for them to check things out regardless and see what they could do to fix the problem. No one else deserved to die so brutally for no known reason. Additionally, she wanted her mind off of things.

        "It could be nothing at all," Sam pointed out, glancing between Dean, Riley, and Selena. He was the odd man out on this one, alone with his opinion. "One freaked out witness who didn't see anything? Doesn't mean it's the Invisible Man." He didn't appear to be very interested in the possible case at all. He was far more interested in finding his father and the thing that killed Jess. Last case, he had believed something was amiss while Dean was against it all, yet Sam turned out correct in the end; however, Sam's friends had been involved around it so that was most of the reason why he had believed in such. Now, it appeared that the two brothers had switched places, Dean believing that something could be going on while Sam was the one who did not believe such. The Grant-Piers half-sisters, however, were still giving the same answer as last time, both of them ready to get the show on the road; although, Riley appeared to be more ecstatic about it all.

        "But what if it is?" Dean countered, staring at Sam again. "Dad would check it out," he added on immediately afterwards. Sam made a face in response as he stared back at Dean, an expression on his face that meant he was giving in to what everyone wanted. Although, it was three against one regardless of if Sam had wanted to check things out or not. Thankfully, just the mention of their father was enough to make Sam get on board with things, somewhat. Perhaps they could find a lead or something there in Ankeny. Probably not but it was best to pretend some lead would be found.

        Riley studied both Dean and Sam, a thought crossing her mind. She raised an eyebrow as she came to a conclusion that was obvious. "I've noticed something just now," she stated out loud, the brothers and Selena looking towards her. She pointed back and forth between the brothers, a slight smirk on her face. "The two of you have switched mindsets," she pointed out. Both brothers stared at her, confused. Riley rolled her eyes. "Here's the example of the obvious. Dean, you  _didn't_  believe in our last case but this time, you believe that this new whatever-you-wanna-call-it  _could_  be a case. Sam, you believed in our last case and you had been entirely correct about it but now, here you are being skeptical about this new thing that could be something we need to deal with. Although, honestly, that could be because you're frustrated about not finding your father still and I get that. I'd be the same way if, uh, if our," she gestured towards herself and Selena, "Father had  _gone missing_." She looked down at the table after mentioning her deceased father and sadness crossed her eyes for a split second. She shrugged slightly as she looked back up at them. "Just thought I'd point that out." Dean and Sam looked at each other before they looked back at Riley, both uttering  _shut up_  in unison and Riley rolled her eyes at them again...

**~March 10th, 2006; Ankeny, Iowa~**

        Within a hour and a half, Dean pulled the Impala up in front of a building and parked his vehicle as Riley parked her vehicle behind him. The building that they had pulled up to was a fraternity, or frat house for short, and several of the young men that lived within the house were standing or sitting outside, doing their own little thing. Although, a few of them paused what they were doing so that they could look at the four hunters that just arrived, curiosity filling their beings as they stared at the two vehicles. After the Winchester brothers and the Grant-Piers half-sisters removed themselves from their vehicles and closed the doors behind them, they grouped up in front of the Impala as they watched a few college students walk by them without a care in the world, those students paying them no mind whatsoever because they had better things to do. A few of the students were still staring at them, some confused and some wary but those looks slowly changed as they took in the appearance of the sisters, their looks being more than just suggestive as they stared at the beautiful young women that had arrived with the Winchesters. Perhaps it wasn't the best day for the sisters to be wearing dresses.

        Dean, Riley, Sam, and Selena glanced around the area, eyeing their surroundings before they made a move to go onward. Dean was the first to notice the looks that some of the guys were giving Riley and Selena but while he responded in a protective manner for Selena (moving to block her out of view from the guys), he glared at the young men who were mostly staring at Riley, making them (the guys) look away from them all quickly as they (the guys) went back to what they were doing before the hunters had shown up. Dean's reactions didn't go unnoticed by Riley, Sam, and Selena, and their thoughts on what happened varied: Riley was happy that he was being protective of Selena while she was also feeling excited and somewhat confused about him showing some jealousy finally because of reasons that were obvious, Sam smirked to himself knowingly because he knew that Dean liked Riley more than he let on, and Selena felt grateful for the protection because she felt a bit uncomfortable underneath the gaze of the strangers around them. Not saying a word to one another just yet, the four of them began making their way towards a vehicle that some of the college kids were working on.

        "One more time, why are we here?" Sam asked Dean as he moved to be near Selena. Just because Dean had gotten in the way just moments ago, it didn't mean that the surrounding young men wouldn't try to catch another glimpse of Selena. But Sam wasn't worried about that in particular. No, he was worried about another possible incident like the shifter one, him not wanting Selena to go through that shit once more. That was why he had moved closer to Selena, walking to her right as they both followed behind the opposite sibling (Selena was walking behind Dean and Sam was walking behind Riley; how that lineup happened exactly, it was unknown but not impossible).

        "Victim lived here," Dean replied quickly as the four of them reached the vehicle that was being worked on. One guy rolled out from underneath the vehicle, looking over at them as they stopped walking. "Nice wheels," Dean complimented, causing the three guys to look at him strangely. Riley crossed her arms as she waited for Dean to get to the point, wanting to get this over with already and she made a face when one of the guys looked at her next, disliking the look on his face but she was kind of amused by the fact that the guy was eating a banana as he worked on a car. "We're your fraternity brothers," Dean continued, lying swiftly as he referred to himself and Sam. He had a dark look in his eyes as he stared at the male that was staring at Riley; he was strangely being more open with his jealousy rather than keeping it hidden, most likely due to the attire that Riley had picked for herself that day. "From Ohio. We're new in town. Transfers. Looking for a place to stay."

        The same guy, a.k.a. the dude with the banana, looked at Dean for a moment before he gestured towards Riley, looking back at her again as he completely missed the dark look in Dean's eyes. "She can't stay here." He glanced behind Riley and finally noticed Selena from the corner of his eye, her having been well hidden behind Dean. "And neither can she," the guy added, nodding towards Selena's location. However, despite his words, it was clear by his mannerism that he wished the girls would stay, having that certain look in his eyes.

        "No fucking shit, Sherlock," Riley remarked loudly, not bothering to be quiet about it. She didn't like the dude at all and she surprisingly, yet thankfully, hadn't growled at him. What had been the point in speaking with him in the first place? They should've just waltzed right in, should've shown them some fake badges or something and be in, then out in no time. But nope, they were going about this the stupidly slow way and she hated it because she just didn't like being there one bit. "We wouldn't want to stay here anyway, not with those looks you're giving us," she continued, immediately calling out the guys that had been staring at either her or Selena (those guys being banana guy and nearby backpack dudes that were eavesdropping on the conversation out of curiosity). She reached towards her left, grabbing onto Dean's arm without looking at him and she pushed herself closer to him, hugging his arm like a girlfriend would with her boyfriend and she enjoyed every second of it because she didn't know when it would end. "I'm just here to help my boyfriend and my sister's boyfriend move into their new room," she lied with a smirk. She didn't see it but Dean went from being confused and shocked to being satisfied with the lie Riley made, Dean soon smirking at the guys in front of them. However, Riley did look towards the two backpack dudes that were still watching them, this time with jealous looks on their faces. "That's right, my sister and I are off the market. Fuck off with your perverted stares, motherfuckers. It's goddamn pathetic," she heavily cursed loudly and she almost laughed out loud as the two guys speed walked away with wide eyes. Yeah, she tended to have that effect on people, most not expecting her sailor mouth.

        Behind Dean and Riley, Sam and Selena looked at each other. Sam was unsure on whether or not he should make a move to go along with the lie and Selena was just waiting for Sam to do something so that the lie wouldn't be made known to everyone. Sam glanced around and noticed some eyes on them, letting out a reluctant sigh as he looked back at Selena. Awkwardly, he slowly wrapped his left arm around Selena's shoulders; if it were a different situation, he wouldn't be feeling so awkward about this but Selena was just a good friend and nothing more, making it hard for him to pretend that they were together as a couple. Selena, however, didn't seem to mind this situation at all and she wrapped both of her arms around his waist, smiling up at him before laying her head against his side; she loved hugs and she loved being around the brothers so this was the best thing ever for her, a win-win. Sam smiled to himself because of this, slightly relaxing and he glared at anyone who continued to stare at them, acting like a protective (and perhaps slightly possessive) boyfriend.

        No more words were said and the four hunters maneuvered around the vehicle, heading towards the front door of the building. Upon entering, the four of them began their search for the correct room as they passed by many young men that eyed them strangely. Not once did the hunters give up their facade of being two couples and Dean even made Riley let go of his arm, just so that he could wrap said arm around her shoulders, making her closer to him. Neither Dean nor Riley knew that the other was enjoying being close together, their somewhat feelings oblivious to each other; they both liked their closeness but were oblivious of the mutual feeling they both were having about it. Sam and Selena seemed to be enjoying themselves too, mostly because of what they were witnessing in front of them; they both weren't oblivious to the fact that Dean and Riley liked each other to some extent. Eventually, with some instructions from some guy they asked help from, the four of them found the room they were searching for.

        The four hunters witnessed quite a sight when they appeared in the doorway of the dorm room. Standing in the middle of the room was a shirtless guy with some puffy hair and he was standing in front of a mirror. However, that sight was nothing compared to the fact that he was wearing yellow shorts and, oh, he was painting his entire body fucking purple, a very bright purple to be exact. Selena didn't really react to the sight but Dean, Riley, and Sam certainly did, their reactions almost entirely similar to each other: Dean looked confused, frightened, and disturbed all at once, Sam looked both slightly terrified and surprised, and Riley just looked horrified. Dean lightly shook his head and he knocked on the door twice with the hand that had been laying on Riley's shoulder, causing the guy to turn his head towards them because of the sound. "Who are you?" he questioned, eyeing them all suspiciously before eyeing the females only. "You're not suppose to be in here," he pointed out immediately. At least he wasn't checking them out like the other guys had been but either way, Riley and Selena were out of his league.

        Riley rolled her eyes, not caring. She already knew that, having heard it earlier from banana guy. Tell her something she didn't know, like how to make this move onward faster. "Yeah, we've heard," she pointed out. "We're just helping out our boyfriends, your fantastic new roommates." She kissed Dean's cheek to seal the deal completely, smiling genuinely at him when he looked at her. She slid herself out from underneath his arm and she walked into the dorm room, heading towards the left to some chairs, sitting down on one properly as she felt pleased with herself. Although she had wanted to kiss Dean upon his lips, she had went with the next best thing but it was something, at least. Definitely a step up from the usual, which was occasional arguing.

        Dean smiled happily to himself for a moment before the smile became more awkward as he looked at the purple guy again. He stepped into the room, Sam and Selena moving along behind him. He took only a few steps towards the boy, intentionally just trying to move where Riley had walked to but the purple frat boy held out his brush and paint can to Dean, stopping Dean in his tracks. He clearly wanted Dean to help him out. "Do me a favor? Get my back. Big game today," Frat boy stated. However, he immediately started painting his own torso again, getting a few spots that he apparently missed somehow.

        Dean sucked in some air through his teeth, pointing back towards Sam with his right thumb. "He's the artist," he commented and Sam stared at the back of Dean's head, surprised. Sam should've seen that one coming. Obviously, Dean would get himself out of doing something by pushing someone else in the line of fire but only for matters like this that didn't involve life or death situations. "Things he can do with a brush," Dean continued before he quickly moved to sit in the chair next to Riley, picking up a magazine from a nearby table. Sam, completely mortified, reluctantly removed his arm from around Selena as she removed her arms from around his waist and he took the items from purple frat guy. Riley snickered as she watched Sam begin to paint the dude's back, amused by Sam's terrified expression. Selena smiled sympathetically at Sam when he glanced at her and she moved to stand beside Riley's chair, facing Sam and purple frat dude. "So," Dean spoke up after a moment of silence. He looked at the back of the magazine he picked up, spotting purple frat dude's name on it. "Murph, is it true?" he asked as he looked up, flipping the magazine around as he flipped it open to a random page.

        "What?" Murph questioned as he stared at his reflection in the mirror while Sam painted his middle back. Dean was going to have to clarify his meaning because Murph wasn't sure as to what Dean was referring to. Right now, Murph's mind was focused on being purple for a game that honestly didn't really matter but 'mattered' to all the sport loving peoples; meaning unless he was an athlete, this game wasn't going to give him any benefits apart from it keeping him entertained temporarily.

        Dean responded bluntly, getting straight to the point. "We heard one of the guys around here got killed last week." Why hold it off? Getting to the point would make it easier and faster to get the information they were looking for. However, the only information they'd get mostly was the opinion of someone who hadn't even been there when the murder occurred; Murph, a.k.a. Frat boy, would only be able to tell his thoughts on the matter and what he had heard from others about the incident, the latter being exactly the information they needed. Just had to get him talking about it. Better to have little information to start off with than none.

        Riley was taken aback by Dean's sudden bluntness and she looked over at him with an eyebrow raised. "Damn, baby. Never thought I'd see the day where you'd be as blunt as me." She smirked at him when he glanced towards her and he smirked back, both of them keeping up with their little lie. "Kind of sexy," Riley continued as she leaned on the side of the chair she was sitting in, smirking suggestively at Dean as she continued staring at him. Dean, he wasn't certain if Riley was actually flirting with him or if she was just acting according to her lie but he certainly knew that he was enjoying this while it lasted and he winked at Riley in response to her final words before he looked at the magazine in his hands. For Riley, it was a mixture of both; she really was flirting with Dean but she was additionally following through with the lie she came up with. She felt her face slightly heat up from Dean winking at her and she looked away from him, her smirk still visible but a hint of blush was now on her cheeks, the blush going unnoticed by everyone in the room.

        Selena shook her head slightly at Riley. Act or not, it was definitely not the time for flirting. They needed to get information about what was going on so that they could get to the bottom of things before someone else was killed violently. She stared at Murph, particularly at his back since he was still facing the mirror as Sam painted his back more, and she occasionally glanced towards Sam as he continued with the job that was forced on him by Dean. "Could you tell us what had occurred?" she asked Murph in an almost whisper, her voice softer than it usually was. "Please?" The four of them really, really needed some information right now about things. As for why her voice was rather quiet, she wasn't looking forward to hearing anything negative that may or may not escape Murph's mouth.

        Murph shook his head slightly as he stared at his reflection. "They're saying some psycho with a knife, maybe a drifter passing through," he told them. Dean, Riley, Sam, and Selena listened quietly, all of them staring at him as he spoke. Well, Sam was staring at Murph's back since he was occupied with a task but nonetheless, all the hunters were staring at Murph. "Rich was a good guy," Murph continued, a hint of sadness in his tone. It sounded like he and Rich were on good terms with each other, like most good friends were.

        Selena frowned as she continued staring at Murph, her eyes on his reflection now instead of his purple back. "We are very sorry for your loss of a good friend, Murph," she told him as she spoke in a normal tone. However, her normal tone quickly turned into a half-whisper as she continued with her words. "No one deserves a death such as that." Just by thinking about how the victim had been mutilated (information she heard from Sam when he read the article earlier that day), Selena thought about her nightmare where she saw the Winchesters, Riley, and Juliet Grant laying dead on the road with their insides on their outside. She couldn't possibly be able to do something like that, right? That nightmare must've been created by her fear of her capability of harming others with her powers that she hadn't thought would get any stronger. She had never been able to pull off some of the shit she had done while with the Winchester brothers and that terrified her to no end. Did being around others make her stronger? Did being around others make her unlock what she always had? She wasn't sure about that just yet. Stuck inside her thoughts of her nightmare, she missed hearing Murph saying 'thank you' to her and she missed the glances of worry from Dean, Riley, and Sam.

        Sam glanced away from Selena and exhaled through his nose, shaking his head slightly as he pushed his worry away for now. He needed to stay focused on whatever this was. "Rich, he was with somebody?" he asked Murph, glancing up towards the mirror to look at Murph's reflection before he looked at Murph's back again, trying his hardest to finish painting as quickly as possible. He did not like this little chore. Dean and Riley were enjoying his pain, mostly silently now, but at least Selena had appeared to feel sorry for him. This was probably the worst task in the world that he had ever done.

        "Not just somebody." Murph turned to face Sam and Sam stared at him, pausing the painting of Murph's back. " _Lori Sorensen_ ," Murph continued, stating this matter-of-factly like the four hunters were suppose to know who she was. Sam continued to stare at Murph and shook his head, making it clear to Murph that he didn't know who she was. Dean looked up from the magazine he was looking through, his interest in the conversation reappearing; throughout some portion of the conversation, Dean had started looking at the magazine while half listening to everything that was being said and he had only glanced up when Selena said something a second time but now, Murph had his full attention. Riley stared at Murph, one of her eyebrows raising again and she waved her hand, gesturing for the guy to say something more about the female he mentioned but he didn't do so and an annoyed expression appeared on Riley's face. Selena, still frowning, tilted her head in curiosity.

        "Who's Lori Sorensen?" Dean questioned, staring at Murph. Murph didn't answer right away, turning to face the mirror again for a few seconds. Dean glanced at Murph's back for a split second before he nodded at Sam, pointing towards Murph as he stared at Sam this time. "You missed a spot, just down there on the back," Dean informed Sam as Murph looked towards Dean again. Sam stared at Dean, glanced towards Murph's back, and then looked back at Dean again, clearly very annoyed with Dean and he glared at Riley when she snickered. Dean grinned in amusement at Sam when Sam looked at him again before he (Dean) looked back towards Murph. Selena just silently listened to them as she slightly shook her head again, unamused by this interaction.

        Murph stared at Dean as Sam recommenced painting his back. Riley and Selena stared at Murph continuously, though Selena was reentering her thoughts again and she wasn't really listening all that much as she focused on something else: her nightmare again. "Lori's a freshman," Murph began to explain to all of them. "She's a local. Super hot. And get this, she's a Reverend's daughter," he finished with a smirk. Well, he clearly had _the hots_ for Lori.

        Riley faked a smile, knowing where this was going. "Well, isn't that lovely," she remarked sarcastically. They will most likely be heading to a church now, thanks to this information. It was one of the few ways that they'd find this girl Murph spoke of. Riley wasn't thrilled with the idea of heading to a church, though. She didn't dislike churches but she quite disliked people that went to church, depending on the person anyways because some people just went a little too overboard with their  _Praise the Lord_  crap and it tended to be ridiculous.

        Dean closed the magazine in his hands, placing it on his lap, and he leaned forward in the chair, looking up at Murph. "You wouldn't happen to know which church, would ya?" he asked, waiting for an answer. After getting said answer, he placed the magazine onto the table where he had gotten it from and he stood up. "We've wasted enough of your time," he stated and he looked towards where Riley sat. She looked up at him and, taking a hint, she stood up so that Dean could wrap his right arm around her shoulders again. "Come on, Sammy. We've got work to do," Dean said as he and Riley walked past Sam, Selena following silently behind them. Sam placed the paint brush into the paint can and immediately held it out to Murph, turning to follow after the others as soon as Murph took the supplies from him, a confused expression on the frat boy's face. Murph shrugged after the four hunters were gone and he went back to painting his body purple some more, just in case he missed a few spots.

        By the time the four hunters had arrived at the church, the afternoon service had already begun. Before having headed there, the four of them had stopped at a motel to check in before they all left to the church within the Impala. Dean and Sam headed inside, the door slamming shut behind them as they entered. Riley and Selena did  _not_  follow behind them, remaining outside like Riley had suggested they'd do during the car ride there. Riley had two different reasons for why she wanted to be outside the church with Selena, the first being that she didn't want to be near the people within the church and the second being that she needed to speak with Selena privately with no distractions, this being the first chance she had gotten. Riley needed to know what exactly was going on with Selena and she wanted to know about it now, not later or never but now because she didn't want her worry for Selena to come and go throughout this entire case they were working on, if this even was considered a case.

        Riley stared at Selena, watching as her younger half-sister paced back and forth beside the Impala. Selena appeared to be deep in her thoughts about something. "So," Riley began, dragging out the last syllable of the word. "I'm glad that I finally got some sort of reaction out of Dean today. Maybe he likes me after all," she randomly stated, wondering if Selena would react or if she'd be brought out of her thoughts at least. All she got out of Selena, however, was a hum in acknowledgement, which meant that Selena wasn't entirely occupied with her thoughts of whatever-it-was but she was occupied with her thoughts enough that she didn't give out the verbal response that Riley was looking for. Riley scoffed, throwing out her arms as she continued watching Selena pace. "What? No advice? No words of disappointment for my plan that ended up working? Nothing?" she questioned. Selena didn't even glance in her direction and didn't even acknowledge her this time. "Okay," Riley growled, having had enough. She was going to get to the bottom of this now instead of trying to drag it out and pretend nothing was wrong. She took a few steps towards Selena and grabbed her right arm a little roughly, causing Selena to stop pacing and she finally looked at Riley, her head tilted in confusion and curiosity. "What gives, Selena?" Riley asked her angrily, having zero patience now.

        Selena blinked, staring at Riley as she became just confused about what was going on. "Pardon me?" she questioned, uncertain as to what was occurring. "What are you speaking of, Riley?" She didn't seem to be surprised by Riley's sudden change in behavior, just simply confused about it. She was use to Riley shifting gears in her emotions but for her to do so for no apparent reason, that was just peculiar. Why was Riley mad at her all of a sudden when all they had been doing was standing and pacing outside for the past four minutes? Surely, she couldn't had done something to cause Riley's anger. Perhaps something else had triggered it?

        Riley rolled her eyes. "Oh, would you just stop with the act?" She released her hold on Selena's arm, an aggravated and serious expression on her face as she stared at Selena. "You know exactly what I'm talking about, Selena. You are acting so-" She let out a long aggravated sigh, shaking her head as she lifted her right hand, waving it around as she spoke. "You haven't changed. Not at all. Not even after that shit that happened to you with that motherfucking shifter. Anyone who has endured  _that_  would not be so calm and collected almost all of the time. They would be freaking out, they would be acting differently. You aren't. You have nightmares, sure, but you haven't changed whatsoever." Riley threw her arms out, letting out her aggressive emotions. "How is that even possible?!" she yelled, attracting no one's attention because everyone was inside the church. "You acting like nothing happened worries me more than anything! I'd rather you'd be acting like everyone else would, terrified of every little thing that could happen until you got therapy or something to help you ease up again! But nope! Instead, you aren't like everyone else and that's what makes me so worried! Even Dean and Sam are worried about you!" She threw her arms back down and let out another long sigh. She needed some sort of explanation for Selena's  _normal_  behavior; something had to be wrong, one way or another after what had happened because there was no way that Selena could be so unaffected by recent past events. She refused to believe that everything was okay when she was certain that everything was  _not_  okay.

        Selena frowned at Riley. "I have not changed because there is no reason for me to do so. My nightmares, they are just that; they are nightmares that will go away eventually." She crossed her arms, hugging herself as she continued staring at Riley. "The answer to why I remain as I am and yet I have nightmares is because I have my fears, just as everyone else does. I do not fear what had almost occurred to me, but instead I fear the thought of there being humans or creatures that would stoop to that level." Tears welled up in her eyes as she began to mention what worried her most. "I fear myself because of what I did and what I could do. I fear for what I may become someday. I fear that I will cause harm to you, Dean, and Sam. This is why I am having these nightmares. But I assure you that I will never let these fears hold me down entirely, which is why I remain as I always have been. I will not allow anything to change who I am." At least, she wouldn't allow herself to change on purpose. Accidentally, however, that was a different story.

        Riley sighed again. "I..." She rubbed the back of her neck as she looked away from Selena for a moment. "I never really know what to say after hearing you rant like that... So, okay." She removed her hand from her neck and she looked at Selena again, shrugging as her emotions got back under control again. "Whatever you say, Selena. And, for the record, those fears of yours? They're fucking stupid," she stated bluntly, making Selena blink in surprise. "You shouldn't be afraid of yourself because being powerful doesn't make you evil. You can control it and if you are so scared of harming someone, stop yourself from doing so because, like I said, you  _can_  control it." She released a huff of breath. "As for humans and creatures stooping to  _that_  level, that's just a part of life that can't be changed and you shouldn't worry about it unless it is affecting  _your_  life, not someone else's." She didn't believe that Selena was capable of becoming some evil being. She believed that Selena would always make the right choices and that only good things would come out from her having so many wonderful, and helpful, abilities. She understood why Selena was doubting herself but she still found that incredibly stupid. If Selena continues to doubt herself and fear herself, she'd only just make herself more likely to become what she didn't want to become or, at least, cause herself to do something she feared she'd do.

        Selena smiled at Riley a little as she blinked back her tears. "For someone who doesn't know what to say when I rant, you certainly knew what to say to me." She shrugged slightly, shifting on her feet slightly. "Or, at the very least, you had a lot to say about it." Honestly, she felt better after having heard Riley's words and after having told her of what she dreamt, sort of. Selena didn't plan on informing Dean and Sam about the reason for her nightmares but she was certain that Riley would mention it to the brothers for her, eventually. But she was kind of hoping that Riley would keep it to herself because Selena didn't want Dean and Sam to become any more worried about her or her sanity. She was sure that she'd be okay now, thanks to this little conversation with Riley; if Riley still believed in her, Selena could definitely go back to believing in herself.

        "Oh, shut up," Riley scoffed. She crossed her arms and turned away from Selena. "I hope they finish up in there soon because I'm getting bored. I'm about to fall asleep where I stand, goddamn it," she complained, distracting herself from her sisterly emotions that were threatening to erupt from deep within her. She had wanted to hug Selena, wanted to tell her that everything would be fine and dandy, wanted to promise to her that she'd protect her from absolutely everything but she refrained from doing that, knowing all that would be was empty promises. She wasn't certain of the future but she refused to believe that Selena would become anything horribly different than what she was currently. As she impatiently tapped her foot against the ground, she could feel Selena staring at the back of her head and she could almost sense Selena rolling her eyes at her. Hopefully, she had broken Selena out of her little trances permanently.

        Fifteen more minutes had gone by before everyone began to exit from the church, the service finally ending. Dean and Sam were two of the first few to exit, mostly because they had been the last to enter. The four hunters shared glances with each other but made no moves to reunite just yet, the Winchester brothers soon looking away from the half-sisters as they (the brothers) approached Lori from behind when she was finished with speaking with her colored friend. Silently, Riley and Selena watched the Winchesters interact with Lori, neither of them able to hear what was being said and Riley couldn't help but notice how attractive the young woman was, immediately wondering if Dean found her attractive as well. Unable to contain her jealousy from an assumption, Riley left Selena by the Impala and slowly approached Dean, Lori, and Sam, walking up behind the brothers. She gently maneuvered past everyone that was surrounding the area, careful not to brush against them or otherwise, she'd blow a gasket. She began hearing the makings of the conversation's ending, listening to Sam speak in response to whatever Riley had missed previously.

        "I kind of know what you're going through," Sam told Lori, making Riley slow her roll and pause her movement behind him (and Dean) as she listened in more. "I-I saw someone..." Sam hesitated for a few seconds before he continued his sentence. "...Get hurt once. It's something you don't forget." His tone was so gentle, Riley could almost hear the sorrow hidden within it. Sam didn't just kind of know what Lori was going through, he knew  _exactly_ what she was going through because he went through it with Jess and he was still having trouble with coping with her untimely death. Only difference was that Jess' death affected him a lot and Lori didn't seem too affected by Rich's death.

        Riley knew that Sam was referring to Jessica and she no longer had the heart to make a bitchy introduction to Lori, her cold heart having softened up at Sam's words. She began to move again, side stepping so that she could move to be standing beside Sam. "We've all seen someone we love get...hurt," she stated, temporarily placing herself within the conversation. She could practically feel Dean and Sam gazing at her as she stared at Lori but she ignored them for the time being. Lori stared back at her, curiosity in her eyes along with sadness. Riley shrugged her right shoulder, a sad smile appearing on her face. "So, I suppose all of us are in the same boat as you." She paused briefly before continuing. "It'll get better, eventually. I can promise you that much," she told Lori in a softer tone than what she had been using, a tone which she tended to use with Selena sometimes. Lori half smiled at her and nodded slightly. "Anyways," Riley continued after clearing her throat, back to her normal tone. "I hope this giant teddy bear and the lover boy over there haven't been bothering you," she said with a smirk, finally looking over at Sam and Dean as she gestured towards them. Sam looked a bit amused and Dean just glared at her, clearly not amused. Riley stuck her tongue out at Dean and looked back at Lori, seeing that Lori was a bit amused by Riley herself. "I'm Riley, a good friend of theirs that they'd hate to lose despite my constant need to annoy them to death," she introduced herself at last. She wasn't wrong; despite their differences, they'd definitely miss each other if something were to happen.

        Lori nodded slightly again, a smile on her face. "It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Lori," she introduced. "I assume you're new here as well? And that you were transferred with them?" she asked politely. Riley nodded automatically in response and Lori's smile seemed to become a bit brighter. "Then, I look forward to hanging out with you in the future," she stated, happy to have met a new friend. She glanced towards her left, only to find that her father was approaching them with a smile and she smiled back at him, laying her left hand on his right arm when he stood beside her. "Dad, um," she began, looking back towards Dean, Riley, and Sam. "This is Sam, Dean, and Riley. They're new students," she introduced her father to her new friend and her new friend's friends, waving her hand towards each of them as she introduced them.

        Dean raised his right arm, shaking Reverend Sorensen's hand as he immediately started kissing ass, that being one of his many talents that tended to fail sometimes. Hopefully, nothing would go wrong. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Sir. I must say, that was an inspiring sermon." Dean dropped his arm back to his side after the handshaking was over, an incomplete smile appearing on his face as the Reverend smiled back at him continuously. Riley had to resist her urge to roll her eyes, not wanting to ruin anything as she thought of how ridiculous Dean sounded to her. Additionally, Riley found it amazing that people automatically believed the words they said to them, regardless of if the words were actually true or not. Were they really that gullible? Or did they just wish to believe what they were hearing?

        "Thank you very much," Reverend Sorensen responded, believing Dean's words. He continued to smile at Dean, except he was additionally smiling at Riley and Sam currently as well. The three hunters sent back various smiles of their own; Dean smiled awkwardly, Sam smiled genuinely, and Riley smiled falsely but believably. "It's so nice to find young people who are open to the Lord's message," he continued further, his smile never faltering. Honestly, his smile was kind of creepy and it may or may not be kind of freaking Dean and Riley out a little bit.

        Knowing that she wouldn't be able to remain friendly for much longer, Riley quickly excused herself from the conversation and turned around, heading back towards the Impala where Selena was still located. If she had stayed over there a few seconds longer, she most likely would had flipped her shit. That man, Lori's father, was a very large example of why she hated some church folks. Certainly, Reverend Sorensen wasn't so kind towards those whom weren't open to the Lord's message; he seemed like someone who'd be very butt hurt over others not having the same religion or beliefs as him. As soon as Riley got to the Impala, she entered the backseat and she almost slammed the door shut behind herself but thankfully, she didn't or otherwise, Dean would have a few words with her for being rough with his baby. She huffed as she leaned against the seat, slowly beginning to release very low growls that she could no longer contain within herself. Sitting to her right, Selena (who had gotten into the Impala while Riley was standing with the Winchester brothers) was napping soundlessly as she remained undisturbed by Riley's growing anger and, apparently, undisturbed by nightmares this time. For the next ten minutes, Riley waited very impatiently for Dean and Sam to return to the vehicle, wishing to leave the area as her growling became slightly louder throughout the passing of time. Hearing the backseat door open towards her left, she peeked over to see that it was Dean who had opened it. "Can I help you with something?" she asked him in an irritated tone.

        Dean frowned as he stared down at Riley, raising his right eyebrow. He crouched down a bit so that he was at eye level with her. "You're upset," he pointed out, not sounding concerned but he certainly was feeling it. Riley hadn't appeared to be upset earlier, considering that she had been messing around a bit after having been speaking seriously. Dean was curious about what had been the reason for her sudden mood change, but again, he was also concerned about said sudden mood change. Perhaps it had something to do with what she mentioned earlier? Riley did speak about her father and mother, even though she was only referring to them and didn't exactly state out loud that they were whom she had been speaking about; she had spoken about seeing a loved one get  _hurt_  and Dean could only assume that she was speaking of her parents whose demise he was aware of but for all he knew, it could had been Selena that Riley had been referring to instead because Selena tended to get hurt quite a bit. Or it could had been Riley's deceased lover. Who knows?

        Riley rolled her eyes and she glared at him. "No, I'm growling because I'm extremely happy to be here," she sarcastically remarked before she scoffed, rolling her eyes once more. "Of course I'm upset, Winchester," she stated in a slightly louder tone, some bystanders in the area glancing towards them for a few seconds before going about their business. She didn't like being there and she wanted to leave. Having heard what the Reverend said had been why she felt like exploding. How dare that man believe that the Lord would help them through things. How dare he assume that she believed in God when she, in fact, didn't fully believe in God. The only way she'd fully believe in God is if she saw some proof of him-she-it existing but for now, she only believed in the  _possibility_  of him-she-it existing.

        Dean rolled his eyes in return as he began to regret feeling concerned for her. He had clearly forgotten just who the hell he had been speaking to. Riley Piers was a very blunt, brutally honest woman that didn't give two shits about most things and often spoke rudely or sarcastically. However, she tended to make up for her behavior by showing rare signs of kindness, which is what Dean liked most about her. "Well then," he said, speaking with a slight attitude because Riley's behavior was changing his mood. "Could you tell me why the hell you're so upset?" he asked. He hoped he'd get an answer or he'd be the one exploding. It truly was amazing how Riley could make him want to flip his shit in a matter of seconds.

        "I hate people like that Reverend guy," Riley answered without hesitation. She leaned up from the seat, her eyes remaining on Dean. She could've sworn that she saw Dean tilt his head very slightly to the right as he listened to her but it must had been her imagination. She made a face of displeasure. "I'm  _open to the Lord's message_? As if. Where the fuck was the almighty Lord when Selena was taken hostage? Where was he-she-it at when my parents were murdered brutally in cold blood by some demon bitch?" She stared intensely into Dean's eyes. "Where the hell was God when your mother was taken from you and Sam so early?" She scoffed as she looked away from Dean for a moment, looking at the back of the driver's seat. "It's all a lie. We can only fend for ourselves and hope for the best. There is no God. If God existed, then why the hell hasn't he done anything? Why hasn't he done some good for those who deserve it?" She shook her head as she looked over at Dean. "All that praying of theirs doesn't do a bit of good. It's pointless to pray to someone that has never existed." She leaned back against the backseat and once again looked away from Dean, her eyes on the ceiling of the vehicle this time. She could believe in Heaven, she could believe in Hell, and maybe she could kind of believe in Angels but she could not believe in God, not entirely anyways. Just so much evil has happened that she just can't help but doubt in God's existence while additionally semi-believing in a possibility of the existence of God.

        Dean watched her silently, not saying anything for a moment. He wasn't surprised by her admitting openly to him that she had no faith, or almost no faith, in God but he was surprised that her opinions about God were similar to his own. He didn't exactly believe in God or even Angels but he was willing to have, at least, a hint of faith towards that matter, meaning he was willing to pray for someone's safety in hopes that the person would be alright and at this point, he'd only do that for Sam, Riley, and Selena. His father, too, maybe as well. "I've asked myself the same thing many times," he spoke up after a while, causing Riley to look over at him in slight surprise. Dean shrugged. "I still don't have an answer."

        Riley stared at him for a moment, completely silent. She hadn't thought that her opinion would be close to Dean's and that had surprised her quite a little bit but not by much. She never noticed that she and Dean had some similarities with one another. Or maybe she had noticed those similarities before but paid them no mind. She was at a loss for words as she continued staring at him because she hadn't been expecting him to agree with her. She sighed and shook her head slightly, looking away from him again. "Just tell Sam to hurry up before I wolf out. I can't take much longer," she told Dean in a quiet tone, her growling long gone. She heard him sigh in response and she didn't even glance towards him as he closed the backseat door. She remained quiet, deep within her thoughts. She had thought that he'd look at her differently after hearing what she had said but he did the opposite and it confused her. Why were the two of them so alike, yet so different...?

**~March 10th, 2006; Ankeny, Iowa~**

        If one has seen a library, one has seen basically all of them because they all were practically the same. The library that the Winchester brothers and the Grant-Piers half-sisters were walking through was large, but rather crowded, as the four of them walked down the aisle between many sets of bookshelves. It was crowded because it was filled with either college students, elderly people, or the people that worked there; college students were studying at desks that were in between every several bookshelves, elderly people were occasionally standing and reading through the books that they had picked up from the shelves, and the people that worked there, they were either helping someone or they were waiting to help someone. Dean was leading the way down the aisle, followed by Sam, Selena, and lastly Riley. Their reasoning for being at the library was for one thing and one thing only: research on this matter they were dealing with and hopefully, they'd find something interesting.

        "So, you believe her?" Dean questioned Sam as he continued walking slightly ahead of him and their two friends. Sam answered with a yes as he nodded, only Riley and Selena seeing the nod since Sam was walking behind Dean and the girls were walking behind Sam. "Yeah, I think she's hot, too," Dean continued, smirking at Sam when he looked back towards him for a few seconds before he looked back towards where he was heading, continuing to lead the way through the library. Honestly, he had no clue what he was looking for exactly but hey, the library has the answer to most things so that was a start, at least.

        Riley scoffed and rolled her eyes, attempting to glare at the back of Dean's head from the back of the line they had formed. "Of course  _you_  would think that," she commented in a low tone. She couldn't be surprised by these comments of his anymore. They flowed out of his mouth too regularly for anyone, who knew Dean, to be surprised. However, Riley could be angry and envious of these comments whenever they came up. When in the hell was Dean ever going to give her a compliment? She couldn't even recall if he ever had given her one before. She was only aware of the several times in which they had a decent conversation that didn't involve yelling at each other or insulting each other with salty remarks. She let out a huff of breath as she followed behind everyone at a slightly slower pace, her mood becoming negative again. She glanced around with disinterest at the books within the shelves they were passing, suddenly feeling dread enter her body at the thought of having to do much needed research; she never was going to get use to having to read up on things. So now, her negative mood was being influenced by two different things.

        Sam shook his head slightly as he responded to what Dean said. "No, man, there's something in her eyes." He stuffed his hands into his pants pockets. "And listen to this." Sam paused his speaking for a moment as Dean turned towards the right, walking in between more bookshelves since they came to a dead end; bookshelves were blocking the way they had been going entirely, so they'd have to walk around the bookshelf instead of going through it like they had been doing when there had been an open space. Sam quickly moved to follow closely behind Dean, Selena and Riley close behind him in return. "She heard scratching on the roof," Sam began to inform the three as they walked onward. "Found the bloody body suspended upside down over the car." Behind him, Selena made a face of displeasure and almost released a whimper; she didn't like hearing that information. However, Riley had a look of interest on her face and she smirked; she seemed to quite like the sound of this thing, whatever it was because it was very creative in its killings.

      "Wait." Dean stopped walking and he turned towards his right as Sam moved to be standing in front of him, the two of them facing each other; basically, Sam had been moving to stand beside Dean but then, Dean had turned so Sam turned in response and that was how they were facing one another right now. Riley and Selena stopped walking (not before Riley moved to stand beside Selena) as they both stood facing the brothers but the brothers weren't facing them in return, their main focus being each other right now. "The body suspended? That sounds like the-" Dean didn't get to finish his sentence because he was interrupted.

        "Yeah, I know. The Hook Man legend," Sam finished for Dean. The Legend of the Hook Man was one of the most popular, most famous urban legends around (and it will not be explained until later, sort of, though it is kind of self explanatory). This legend was as well known as the Legend of Bloody Mary, which turned out to be a vengeful spirit and not a legend at all. Perhaps just like with that evil spirit case, this legend wasn't exactly a legend after all. And if that really was the case right now, a certain someone would be very displeased about this information (a.k.a. Selena because of obvious reasons).

        "The Hook Man legend?" Selena questioned, tilting her head to the side. Just like she hadn't known about Bloody Mary, she didn't know a single thing about the Hook Man or his legend. Dean and Sam both turned towards the sisters at that point, both of them looking at Selena and spotting her very confused expression as the four of them remained crowded in between two bookshelves. However, the two brothers weren't really surprised that Selena didn't know what the Hook Man legend was since they had witnessed her confusion towards Bloody Mary some time ago. And if this situation was anywhere close to how the Bloody Mary case went, the Winchesters and Riley would have to keep a close eye on Selena, make sure nothing triggered her into losing control once again. Last time, Bloody Mary had stressed Selena out so badly that her telekinesis went out of control and she destroyed everything made of glass within the shop they had been within at the time. Fingers crossed that the Hook Man wasn't a spirit.

        Riley glanced over at Selena, staring at her in surprise for a few seconds before her surprise turned into curiosity. "Just how many legends have you not heard about, Selena?" she asked as she placed her hands on her hips, tilting her own head to the side. Selena looked over at her, her head still tilted. Riley straightened her own head back in place and she raised one hand off of her hips, gesturing at Selena. "You're a hunter, for goodness sake. One would think that you'd research these things as much as possible, just in case something like this would occur." Riley gestured towards herself, placing her hand on her chest. There really wasn't a point in her doing that but she felt like it. "I would had thought you had learned your lesson the last time you were clueless. Guess not," she stated. She really had thought that Selena would had looked up some things about legends after the Bloody Mary incident but no such thing had occurred. Why it hadn't occurred, she didn't know and she probably wasn't going to find out the reason why but whatever. Regardless, she was a bit frustrated with Selena's supposed lack of caring for learning these things. Additionally, this was a third reason why she was in a negative mood right now. What would make her mood even worse? Dean fucking a librarian in the storage room? Yeah, that probably would make her mood worse. Hell, it would probably make her murderous.

        Selena frowned as she continued staring at Riley, her head remaining tilted to the side. "I apologize for my lack of knowledge on these matters and for not researching about them beforehand. As for my answer to your question, I suppose I have absolutely no knowledge whatsoever of any sort of legend, apart from Bloody Mary and the Wendigo folklore." So, that meant that she hadn't even heard about legends from bystanders or anyone throughout the years. She only knew about Bloody Mary because the Winchesters and Riley had told her about that legend. Additionally, she knew about the Wendigo folklore because, well, she had actually done some research on it. She did research on a lot of things but most urban legends were not on that list because they never really crossed her mind. Overall, she was entirely clueless about most urban legends (minus Bloody Mary and the Wendigo). Thankfully, she wasn't clueless about spirits and other supernatural creatures or she would had long been dead and Riley, also, probably would had long been dead if Selena was clueless about any supernatural thing. Selena looked back towards the brothers, looking up at Sam. Her head remained tilted the entire time. "Now, what is this Hook Man legend you speak of?" she asked him, wishing to be informed of this legend they knew about. Perhaps later on, she'd do some research on urban legends just for the sake of the possibility that this shit could happen a third time.

        Dean answered Selena instead of Sam but he didn't really explain the legend to her. "It's just one of the most famous urban legends ever." He looked away from Selena, ignoring her continuous confused expression as he looked back over at Sam. "You don't think that we're dealing with  _the_  Hook Man." He was being kind of skeptical about that idea. It just seemed a little far-fetched to him. They had no actual proof that it was the Hook Man, minus the information that Lori had told Sam. And even if the killing followed the legend precisely, it still seemed a little far-fetched because how can a man be killing people and remain unseen?

        Sam shrugged. "Every urban legend has a source, a place where it all began," he stated matter-of-factly. For example (sort of), Bloody Mary died in front of a mirror and her spirit got trapped within the mirror realm. She went wherever the mirror went and haunted the town she had been taken to by killing anyone that held a secret from someone because a secret is what had gotten her killed when she had been alive (although, she couldn't do shit unless she was summoned by someone and thankfully, no one would be harmed by her ever again because of the Winchesters and Grant-Piers siblings). For this current occasion, perhaps the Hook Man died within that town or perhaps he died violently where the frat boy had been murdered. Maybe he killed people there and when he passed on, he came back to where he began everything because he didn't want to stop killing people after his death. Multiple possibilities of what could be the reason, really. Just figuring out how this happened was step one in their plan for taking whatever it was down. Although, Sam was entirely sure that this creature was a spirit because of what Lori told him.

        "Yeah but what about the phantom scratches? And the tire punctures? And the invisible killer?" Dean countered. He still was skeptical about all this. Seriously. How can one man do all these things and yet remain unseen by Lori, the only witness at the crime? It couldn't be the Hook Man. It couldn't even be a real life copycat of the legend. It was too impossible. Right? Something like that couldn't be possible, right?

        "Well, maybe the Hook Man isn't a man at all," Sam suggested immediately without having to think about it for a moment. He didn't have to think about it because he already figured this was the reasoning. He shrugged again as he continued staring at Dean. "What if it's some kind of spirit?" he questioned, bringing up his conclusion on the matter. Dean stared at him in wonder, a thoughtful look on his face as he thought about that possibility; that could be very possible, Hook Man being a vengeful spirit like Bloody Mary had been. Perhaps that was indeed the case here. However, that didn't make matters any better.

        Selena's eyes widened suddenly as she heard this suggestion escape Sam's mouth. She shook her head slightly and held up one of her hands. "Wait, just one moment," she said, not wanting them to continue onward with their conversation. At least, not without her getting involved in it again. "Are you saying that this legend is of a ghost? Just how it was with Bloody Mary?" she asked as Dean and Sam looked towards her. The looks of worry on their faces said it all and Selena frowned once again, slouching over in a slightly pathetic way. Why was this happening again? She was beginning to feel that they were encountering ghosts at every corner. Last time hadn't turned out very great, apart from them living, and the time before that had mixed results. What the hell kind of results would happen this time? She could barely handle the last one and she had somehow handled the one before that rather well but that was mostly because a child's life was on the line. What if she lost control of her telekinesis again? What if she caused one of them to be killed this time? She was more terrified of harming Dean, Riley, and Sam than she was terrified of dealing with another spirit.

        Riley stared at Selena with worry, the Bloody Mary incident crossing her mind. She was beginning to regret having interest in this case and she felt bad for feeling impressed with how the frat boy had died. "Maybe you should sit this one out, Selena..." She was aware of Selena's fears of harming them because of what had happened the last time and Riley could only assume that Selena's fears had been under control (after their talk) until that suggestion was made. Now, Riley wasn't sure what the hell would happen. Maybe Selena would be okay this time and everything would go smoothly, one-hundred percent of the way. Maybe Selena would freak the fuck out and lose control again, causing accidental harm to just about anyone nearby. Riley just didn't know what could happen and now, she was worried that something bad would occur to Selena. What if Selena allowed her fear to control her and she caused herself to let her fears become a reality (what if Selena ended up harming someone or what if she became evil, both being just as she feared)? Riley didn't like the thought of that happening and would give anything to prevent it.

        Selena eyed Dean, Riley, and Sam, studying their worried expressions. She continued to frown as she shook her head at Riley's suggestion. "No," she stated firmly. "I refuse to do such. I will be fine." She wasn't going to let her fear of harming her friends and half-sister get the best of her. She was going to continue trusting herself and her powers. She was going to believe in herself and hope for the best. She was going to conquer her small fear of spirits (it was small now because her fears of harming the others and becoming evil were far greater than that). She could handle this spirit just fine, probably, but she didn't like the thought of the possibility that she could lose herself and make matters worse. She didn't want her nightmare to become a reality. Excusing herself, she gently brushed in between Dean and Sam, beginning to continue further down the aisle. She turned left and headed straight for the reception desk, her person now being somewhere in the middle-ish area of the building. Politely, she informed the unoccupied librarian that she and the others needed some records from a long time ago, lying about it being for a project and the young woman headed towards the back where records were kept. Selena sighed to herself as she waited, leaning against the desk as she turned around to look about; the others hadn't followed behind her just yet.

        "Will she be fine?" Sam asked Riley when he watched Selena walk off. He didn't want her doing anything that would make her uncomfortable and she had certainly looked uncomfortable with the suggestion of a spirit being involved. Things had gotten pretty intense the last time they encountered a vengeful spirit and he was kind of worried about Selena having another freak out incident. None of them were entirely sure of what the Hook Man was capable of doing, now that they figured out that he was probably a very violent spirit. The Hook Man could do just about anything, perhaps considerably worse damage than what Bloody Mary could ever cause. Shit could certainly go down negatively.

        Riley released a sigh as she looked at Sam. "I have no idea," she admitted before shrugging. "Maybe. She has us." But Selena had them last time and shit still happened. Although, they had been semi-separated at the time of the shit going down last time so perhaps there was a chance that things would go swimmingly this time around but also the chance that things would not work out very well on either side. All they could really do at this point was hope for the best because how the hell would they be able to prevent Selena from going coo-coo? They didn't exactly know what could trigger her into going off. Stress was one thing but there could be other ways of making Selena go off...

        By the time the three of them (Dean, Riley, and Sam) had maneuvered around the bookshelves, they found Selena helping a librarian place two archive boxes onto an unused table that was across from the reception desk. Both boxes were old and very, very dusty, so dusty that when Selena blew off some of the dust, she started coughing when the dust went up into the air she was breathing. Probably wasn't the best idea for her to do but how else would the dust be gone? As Dean, Riley, and Sam approached her location, Selena thanked the redheaded librarian and the woman smiled at her, walking off afterwards as Selena opened up one of the boxes, going into a longer coughing fit as more dust flew into her face. She pouted when Dean, Riley, and Sam let out small laughs of amusement when they finally reached her but Selena quickly started smiling again, shaking her head at them as her worries temporarily vanished for a bit. Together, the four of them began to look through the folders that dated back towards the eighteen-hundreds.

        Hours went by and the four of them were still searching for an answer of some sort. Well, it wouldn't necessarily be an answer but it would definitely tell them if the Hook Man really was a violent, vengeful spirit. Dean yawned as he stared boredly at the folder in front of him, his head laying against his right hand as his arm remained perched on the table. Sitting across from him was Riley and she appeared to be just as bored as he was, exhausted even because it was getting quite late and she was likely more exhausted than he was. Behind Dean, Sam and Selena were standing beside each other, flipping through documents together (not together, together but like, they were standing near each other, looking at two individual folders of documents). Sam appeared to be wide awake or mostly awake but Selena looked like she was on the verge of collapsing, which was odd because she occasionally took naps in the middle of the day. Although, her almost constant nightmares certainly kept her from gaining much needed rest from time to time. Perhaps the lack of rest finally caught up to her.

        Sam glanced over at Selena, immediately noticing that she was kind of swaying on her feet and not in an energetic kind of way like she tended to do. Her hands were on the book-stand in front of them and her halfway open eyes stared down at the open folder in front of her, her eyes entirely out of focus with the words she was seeing; her mind was in another land as she grew more exhausted with the passing of time. "Selena," he said, trying to get her attention. She let out a soft hum as she blinked slowly, turning her head and her gaze towards Sam. Even when she was tired, she managed to be somewhat curious about what Sam wanted to say. It was kind of an adorable sight to see. "Maybe you should sit down or I could help you back to the car so that you can get some sleep," he told her gently, staring down at her with concern.

        Selena stared up at Sam with tired eyes and she thought his words over multiple times, wondering if she should agree with what he said. In the end, she gave him a tired smile and she dropped her hands from the book-stand. But she didn't nod or say yes in agreement to what he said. Instead, she wrapped her arms around his left arm and she laid her head against it, hugging his arm tightly. "You don't have to be worried about me, Sammy," she mumbled as she stared up at him, her head still on his arm. "I can see it in your eyes. You aren't just worried about my being tired. You are worried about something happening to me, something like last time." She shook her head lightly against his arm, looking away from him as she closed her eyes. "As long as all of you believe in me, I can be okay," she whispered. "I can stay in control. Nothing bad will happen." Despite her tired state, she was able to come to terms with the situation. Mostly. She was still afraid but she was far too tired right now to be able to show her fears of what could happen. Tired Selena wanted to be positive about this and hopefully, that positivity would remain once she was fully awake again. She slowly released her hold on his arm as she reopened her eyes and she pointed down to the documents that Sam had been looking at last. "I believe you found what we were searching for," she told him, having given the documents an once over rather quickly. Despite being tired, she managed to sort of read what was shown on the papers and it was exactly what they had been looking for the entire time.

        Sam looked back down towards the documents that was lying within the folder before him, them being plastered on the book-stand. He looked back over at Selena and she looked up at him again, another tired smile on her face. "Yeah, I did," he answered softly. He smiled gently at her. "And I do believe in you, Selena. But that doesn't mean I'm not allowed to worry about you." Selena let out a tired hum of delight at his words and she nodded ever so slightly. Sam looked away from her and back down towards the documents. Even though their conversation had been short, the little bond that the two of them had became slightly stronger. He leaned forward on the book-stand a bit as he prepared himself to read from it; although, he didn't read from it right away. "Hey," he called to Dean and Riley gently, not being too loud so that he wouldn't disturb the folks within the library. "Check this out," he continued when they both looked towards him. Dean and Riley lazily stood up, Dean walking around the book-stand to be at Sam's right and Riley leaned forward in front of the book-stand when she approached it, boredly looking over and down towards the documents that Sam had. "Eighteen Sixty-Two, a preacher named Jacob Karns was arrested for murder. Looks like he was so angry over the red-light district in town that one night, he killed thirteen prostitutes," he told them without reading from the old papers. He, then, started reading from said old papers, or rather old  _paper_  since he was focused on only one of the few documents. "Uh, right here.  _Some of the deceased were found in their bed, sheets soaked with blood. Others suspended upside down from the limbs of trees as a warning against sins of the flesh._ "

        Riley let out a yawn. "Well, that totally isn't terrifying," she sarcastically remarked in a bored and tired tone. A tired Riley was still a very sarcastic person. She rested her arms against the top of the book-stand, laying her head against them as she stared down at the documents somewhat. "But it sounds to me that you were right. We are dealing with yet another spirit. Yay," she stated with no enthusiasm, still sounding as bored and tired as she looked. "Sounds really fun. Gonna be a blast, man." And now, she just sounded like she was kind of high on something or maybe drunk off her ass. Wouldn't be the first time she sounded like that while tired. And she certainly did sound like that sometimes when she was actually drunk off her ass or as high as a kite.

        Beside Sam, Selena let out a huff of breath as she laid her head against the book-stand. She didn't even bother placing her arms on the damn thing first but it's not like she minded having her head on hard-cover books. She honestly didn't care. Too tired to care about it. "I don't like the sound of this spirit," she stated, yawning out spirit. "It sounds really creepy. Like the boogeyman or something," she added in an almost childish tone. Tired Selena had reverted into Tired Semi-Childlike Selena, apparently. It had been quite a while since Selena had been childish, actually. If only she had chosen to become childish at a much better time. Although, Sam seemed to be quite amused with the very tired Selena. Dean, on the other hand, just looked confused by her behavior; he had seen her childishness before but when she was playing around with a kid, not when she was speaking of a monster they were hunting. She was normally rather formal when speaking of creatures and just about everything else.

        "You'll be fine, Selena," Riley reassured her. Although, by the sound of her tone, she didn't seem to be very sure about her words and that honestly was true; she didn't know what would happen and she was still worried about the possibilities. If she were more awake, she would had pretended to be confident about this matter but nope, too sleepy. It was actually kind of amusing that both sisters were to the point of exhaustion but Riley seemed to have all of her personality in tact while Selena was reverting to her childish tone. "We believe in you. You'll kick some dead man's ass and we'll be completely okay. Fine and dandy all the way. Promise." Riley removed her head from her arms for a moment, rethinking her last few words as she noticed what she said despite being tired. Did she just sort of rhyme? It sounded like she had sort of rhymed. "God, I'm tired..." She lowered her head back onto her arms, not even noticing that Sam and Dean were eyeing her (and Selena) throughout their individual conversation and it was a surprise that neither of them interrupted nor stopped the conversation from continuing.

        "You don't sound very confident about that, Riley..." Selena mumbled, frowning and pouting childishly. She was awake enough to notice that much from Riley. Normally, whenever Riley was trying to reassure her, she sounded entirely sure of herself and her words. Riley sounded the complete opposite right now, mostly because she was tired. But anyways, some of Selena's worry seemed to have resurfaced a bit because of Riley's boredly stated words. What if things did go wrong...? What if she failed them, despite them all believing in her...? She didn't seem to show that worry publicly, though, as she just continued frowning and pouting like a child. She probably wouldn't even remember this conversation once she got some sleep.

        Riley seemed to snap out of her tired haze for a moment as she made a face of regret for not exactly meaning her words. She had been too tired to care about actually meaning them. She buried her head in her arms, letting out a groan as she tried to repeat what she said, only in shorter sentences and with more confidence. However, Dean, Sam, and Selena could barely even understand a word that she was saying because her voice was muffled quite a bit; they understood her words but just barely. "I'm just nervous and shit, I guess. We'll be okay, though. We'll still be alive when it's over." However, then she had to add in one more word. "Probably." These choice of words were no better than the previous ones she had made. In fact, they sounded worse. Riley didn't seem to notice this, though, since she was back to not caring as she started wondering when she could go to sleep.

        "Riley," Dean commented, making her look up at him as she un-buried her face from her arms. "Shut up," he told her in an unamused tone as he looked away from her and towards the documents that Sam had found. Riley hummed, frowning as she began to sulk about Dean telling her to be quiet (which was weird cause that normally just would've pissed her off). Why did she have to be quiet? She didn't do anything wrong, except maybe caused Selena to be more awake due to fear Riley might had reawakened within her accidentally-on purpose. Uh, whoops? As Riley silently moped about what just happened, Dean looked at another page of the documents that Sam had located. On the document was a drawing of the Hook Man and, more specifically, the hook that the man 'use' to wear. "Get this. The murder weapon? Looks like the preacher lost his hand in an accident. Had it replaced with a silver hook."

        "Whaaat?" Riley questioned in an over-exaggerated tone. She wanted to ease the tension, if this was even considered to be a conversation full of tension and if this was even considered a way to ease any sort of tension whatsoever. Regardless, she wanted everyone to stop being so serious and she was choosing the wrong way to do such. Why she wanted the tone to be toned down at bit, who knows but it was likely that she wanted to distract herself so that she was no longer sulking about something stupid. Or she wanted attention. Who the fuck really knew. She was tired and doing stupid shit for whatever reason. "That's so awesome," she continued, dragging out the short sentence on purpose. Dean and Sam both looked towards her, giving her a dark look. Selena, she was too tired to even listen at this point and she completely missed Riley's comment. Riley smiled sheepishly at the brothers, her head still on her arms. "Hehe. Uh, I meant awesomely bad. I-It-I'm so sorry... Blame my tiredness, you guys." As the brothers looked away from her with an eye roll, Riley started frowning and sulking again as she removed herself from the book-stand.

        Sam pointed at a third page, the final document that he had located. "Look where all this happened," he instructed. Dean looked down towards where Sam was pointing and read out loud that the location of the murders happened on Nine Mile Road. This was perhaps the information that they needed. Hopefully, they'd find Jacob's spirit there and they could drive him away for the night so that no one else could be murdered before they (the four hunters) tried to figure out some more things about this situation. Their main focus now was preventing another murder. Second main focus was finding out where the spirit's remains were located at. Well, least these were the main focuses for the brothers. Right now, the main priority for the sisters appeared to be getting some sort of rest for the night.

        Riley crossed her arms, a frown still on her face. She appeared to still be sulking. "Isn't that the same place where that dumb frat dude was killed?" she questioned in a grumpy tone. She was now beginning to lose her patience, not just with the brothers but with herself. During her little sulking session, she slowly came to realize that she was being stupid and kind of the opposite of how she usually was. She mentally cursed herself for becoming so tired that it affected her behavior. She needed to get some sleep and soon before she did something else that would be kind of embarrassing. First, she accidentally had made it known that she didn't know what to think about the future of this situation. Then, she had to go and be very stupid for some reason she wasn't sure about. And now, she was back to being somewhat focused and level-headed but she had no clue how long that would last before she reverted back into stupidly tired Riley. God, when in the fuck where they going to leave that damn library? She really wanted to sleep!

        Dean nodded in response to Riley's question. "Yeah." He looked away from the document and towards Sam, looking quite impressed with Sam's work. It hadn't been much work but it was enough for them all to gain a lot of knowledge on what was probably the circumstance. "Nice job, Dr. Venkman." He turned away from Sam and began to start heading towards where the entrance, and exit, of the library was located, ready to maneuver around more bookshelves and possibly the people that were still located within the building. "Let's check it out," he stated as he continued onward. They had a location to get to and a spirit to deal with.

        "You two can check that shit out by yourselves. Take me and Selena back to the motel," Riley stated, speaking loudly so that Dean could hear her. Probably. She was shushed by the librarians that stood nearby and she shushed them back. "Oh, shush yourselves! No one likes you!" she exclaimed, gaining glares from just about everyone in the area around them. She rolled her eyes and threw up both of her hands, giving them all the middle finger before she started walking around the book-stand, moving to be by Selena. Selena was positioned against the book-stand, her head still laying against hard-cover books and she appeared to be beginning to doze off. "Come on, Sleeping Beauty," Riley said, placing her hands on Selena's shoulders as she pulled Selena upright, making Selena lean against her. "We could use some sleep." Wrapping her arms around Selena, Riley began to help her walk to the exit since she was certain that Selena would probably fall over into things if Riley let her try to walk on her own. Behind them, Sam gathered up all the information they found and he quickly followed behind them...

**~March 10th-11th, 2006; Ankeny, Iowa~**

        That night, before the Winchesters headed over to Nine Mile Road, Riley and Selena were taken to the motel so that they could get some rest, neither of them being very useful in their tired states. Selena had fallen asleep during the ride there and Sam had to carry her inside, which was actually kind of cute if one thinks about it the correct way. Riley, on the other hand, had dozed off but she awakened once they had arrived there at the motel and she refused Dean's unusual offer of helping her inside; Dean just wanted to be nice for once but that clearly had backfired and he regretted even attempting, wondering why the hell he even bothered. After the Grant-Piers siblings were settled inside the safety of the motel room, the Winchesters went to Nine Mile Road as planned but what happened there didn't go according to plan. What actually ended up happening was that when they got there, they had been expecting to see a ghost and instead, they saw a police officer so they kind of had gotten arrested, due to Sam holding a shotgun full of rock salt and because they both looked suspicious as hell.

        Morning eventually came and the Winchesters were released from the police station, all thanks to Dean somehow managing to convince the sheriff into giving them a fine by lying about some things while kind of revealing the truth behind why they had been at Nine Mile Road. Before the Winchesters could get into the Impala and leave for the motel, multiple officers ran out of the police station and those officers headed into multiple police cruisers, speeding off with their sirens ringing loud and proud. Dean and Sam looked at one another before they got into the vehicle quickly, following behind them. On the way to the location, Sam quickly called Selena upon realizing where the police were heading and he told her to meet them at Lori's sorority because another murder had occurred. Selena automatically agreed, hearing the urgency within Sam's tone and she hung up, informing Riley of what happened before the two of them began making their way to the location themselves.

        Dean and Sam obviously arrived at the scene of the crime before the sisters did, Dean parking the Impala on another street. Getting out of the vehicle, Dean and Sam made sure the coast was clear before they made their way through the back of the building, both of them slowly creeping up at the side of the house as they remained hidden from the officers and students that came into their line of vision. Dean temporarily got distracted by some of the sorority girls that came out of the entrance of the building as Sam attempted to climb up to the balcony of the house. Thankfully, Dean quickly snapped out of his little gazing fest and he helped Sam up before climbing up to the balcony with ease. Unbeknownst to them both, Riley and Selena had arrived at the scene, the motel having not been too far away from there. Riley was following behind the brothers footsteps, Selena not with her because she was remaining within Riley's vehicle; there wasn't a point for all of them to be inside the bedroom where the crime had taken place.

        Sam continue along the balcony of the house, looking down towards where the officers and sorority girls were located before he approached the window that had been located behind him, sort of, and he opened it silently. Dean appeared behind him, keeping a lookout as Sam sneaked into Lori's window conveniently; how he managed to enter Lori's room and not someone else's room was amazing. On a side note, Dean wasn't a very good lookout since he still didn't seem to notice that Riley was right on their asses. Immediately after Sam had entered the building by practically diving right into it, Dean went in right after him in the same fashion and kind of landed on top of Sam since he didn't give Sam enough time to get out of the way. "Oh, sorry," Dean apologized as soon as he landed on Sam. He sounded more amused than sorry about what he had just done.

        "Be quiet," Sam hissed quietly. He didn't know if any officers or sorority girls were still within the building and he didn't want Dean to cause too much noise or otherwise, the officers outside and any officers inside would hear them. He attempted to push Dean off of him but it was kind of difficult for him to do that when he was laying on his stomach and Dean was laying on his back. Additionally, it didn't help that Dean was taking his sweet ass time getting off him and it didn't help that the room they were in was rather cramped. Why was Dean taking so long to get off Sam? Because brotherly antics, that's why. Why was the room cramped? Because it was a small walk-in closet, that's why.

        "Me be quiet?" Dean hissed as he started to get off of Sam. Honestly, there really wasn't much room within that walk-in closet. However, somehow Dean managed to get himself off of Sam without bumping into anything and he somewhat helped Sam stand up afterwards. On either side of them, clothes were either piled up or hanging up on clothes hangers. A door was located towards their near left, the door leading into the bedroom where the crime had taken place. Neither of them approached it immediately. "You be quiet," Dean hissed back at Sam.

        "You both be quiet," Riley hissed as she started climbing through the window like a normal human being. Thankfully, she had enough room to be able to enter the building without having to push into the brothers. Dean and Sam both jumped in surprise at the sound of her speaking, both of them spinning around to look at Riley. She rolled her eyes at them as she continued maneuvering into the walk-in closet. "Oh, please. You've seen more startling things than me," she whispered harshly. Gaining full entry into the house, she turned around and closed the window behind her before she looked back towards the brothers. Impressively, she had climbed up the building and into a window while wearing the same day dress she was wearing the day before. That either took great skill or great stupidity. Maybe both. "Save your brotherly antics for later, would ya? Selena's waiting in the car and we have a crime scene to look over quickly," she continued in a hushed tone. Sam nodded and turned around but Dean kept staring at Riley. "Stop gawking at me and get a move on, Winchester," Riley hissed, rolling her eyes again. Dean rolled his eyes back at her as he turned away from her, breaking out of his startled and surprised state.

        Sam approached the very slightly cracked-open door and peeked through, spotting a colored officer pacing around the room. Listening to the man's footsteps as he (the officer) moved out of sight, Sam slowly pushed open the door and peeked out again, now seeing that the officer was leaving the bedroom. Sam pushed the door open a bit more as Dean and Riley moved up behind him, and the three of them tensed up as the door creaked loudly, Dean and Riley grabbing onto each other's arm. However, the creaking door was unheard by the officer and the officer headed down the stairs in the hallway. Once the man was out of sight, the three hunters relaxed and removed themselves from Lori's closet as quietly as possible. They approached the bloody bed that laid in front of them, the bed blocked off by police tape. Painted on the wall in the new victim's blood were the words  **AREN'T YOU GLAD YOU DIDN'T TURN ON THE LIGHT?**  in all uppercase letters and below it was a symbol of some kind. " _Aren't you glad you didn't turn on the light?_  That's right out of the legend," Sam stated matter-of-factly.

        "Way to state the obvious, my friend," Riley responded. She walked over to the window and peeked out of it, slightly moving the blinds. She spotted an officer standing beside an ambulance; most likely the man was speaking to the driver of said vehicle. She proceeded to speak about something else entirely, kind of; she spoke out the smell in the room, rather than about the man outside that she was staring at. "It reeks in here, goddamn it. I should've waited outside with Selena." She rubbed her nose almost violently like that would help get rid of the stench. Ever since she turned into a canine during that little battle with the shapeshifter, her sense of smell had been going back and forth between being rather powerful and being rather normal; her animal instincts were still around somewhat, not fully on lockdown. "Ummm, guys," she commented after a minute as she saw the officer outside, by the ambulance, begin to jog towards the house. "Whatever you wanna do, you better do it quickly. One of the bozos are coming back in and most likely, this room is his destination. Get a move on."

        In the end, the three of them didn't really do much within that bedroom and they didn't really find much either. Apart from the symbol on the wall, which Sam had recognized and pointed out before the three of them quickly got the hell out of there before they were caught red-handed. Together, the three of them snuck back to their respective vehicles where Selena was waiting. Grouping up, the four of them looked at the documents they had gotten from the library and the symbol that was on the wall turned out to be the same symbol that was on the hook in the drawing, confirming that they were indeed dealing with a spirit like they had suspected. After learning that the man was buried in an unmarked grave and that each of the murders revolved around Lori, the four hunters got into their vehicles and they went to the frat house (because it seemed kind of logical to go there) where they heard from some random frat boy that there was going to be a party that night...

        Night eventually arrived and the college party commenced within the frat house. All four of the hunters were within the building at the time of the party but they were separated, scattered all across the house. Dean was walking around, trying to find Riley, Sam, and Selena while also checking out the few extremely attractive females that he happened to walk by very often. Riley was leaning against the wall somewhere, her finger twirling some of her hair as she stared flirtatiously at a muscular and shirtless college boy that was standing across from her, the boy not really noticing her much because his attention was on the drink in his hand. In the middle of the party, Sam was standing around and looking at everyone who was surrounding him. Students were laughing, drinking, dancing, having the time of their lives and basically pretending that someone they knew didn't just die but the people Sam wanted to find weren't in sight. Well, not until three seconds later when he spotted Selena standing by some furniture, looking entirely uncomfortable as some guy spoke to her and offered her a drink in which she refused to take.

        Sam made his way over to where the two were located and he immediately wrapped his arm around Selena's shoulders in a protective manner. He gave the frat dude a hard look as he spoke to Selena. "Is there a problem here, Lena?" he asked as he stared down the guy, who suddenly became self-conscious. Selena just let out a soft whimper as she wrapped her arms around Sam's waist, holding onto him tightly as she buried her head against his side. Sam didn't even have to get an actual answer out of Selena and he didn't even have to say a single word to the frat boy because the frat dude in question immediately raised his hands in defeat and backed off, literally backing away and into someone, which caused a slight catastrophe to occur where multiple students were knocked onto their asses and their drinks were spilled on either the floor or on themselves. Sam looked away from the scene in front of him and he looked at Selena, rubbing her arm. "Lena, are you okay? He didn't do anything before I came over, did he?" he asked her, concerned for her well-being.

        Selena removed her head from against his side and she looked up at him. She shook her head. "He only kept asking me if I wanted something to drink. I know how these things work, though, because Riley told me. She said that if someone offered me a drink and I hadn't seen when they had gotten it, I should definitely not take it from them. He was either going to slip a drug into it or perhaps he already had. He was getting angrier each time I refused, too. I am very glad you came over, Sam." She released her hold on him as she thanked him, getting a  _you're welcome_  in return. She smiled up at him as he removed his arm from her shoulders. "You called me Lena," she pointed out.

        "Uh, sorry," Sam apologized as he rubbed the back of his head. "Do you not like the nickname?" he asked. He thought they had knew each other long enough to have a nickname for each other. Although, the nickname Sammy was given to him by Dean but he didn't mind Selena calling him that. Sometimes. Luckily, he had been in a decent mood each time she had called him that since other times, he often told Dean and Riley to call him Sam. But anyways, since Selena tended to call him Sammy, he wanted there to be a nickname that he could call her sometimes and thus, he decided to use Lena as a nickname. He had been thinking about calling her Len but he liked the nickname Lena better.

        Selena shook her head. "No, don't apologize. I really like the nickname. I do not get called by a nickname very often. Very rarely, in fact. Riley tends to call me Len when she is upset or very, very pissed off. It's actually kind of confusing why she doesn't just call me by my actual name when she is that angry but Riley is kind of strange sometimes, you know?" She continued to smile up at Sam as he nodded in agreement. She looked away from him and she started searching for the others. "Have you seen Riley or Dean at all?" she asked Sam as she quickly looked back up at him. Sam shook his head and the both of them started looking around for the two.

        Although Sam and Selena were looking for their individual siblings, Dean and Riley found the two of them instead. What happened was that Riley had given up on trying to gain the attention of the shirtless dude and she had caught sight of Dean making his way through the crowd with his eyes on most of the single ladies there, if they even were single. So, Riley started making her way through the crowd too and after  _accidentally_  bumping into Dean, they both started looking for their siblings and eventually found them within the crowd. "Man, you've been holding out on me," Dean told Sam as he looked around at the females nearby them. "This college thing is awesome!" His eyes caught the eyes of a passing female and he winked at her, the blonde-haired girl smiling flirtatiously at him as she continued on past him and the others. Riley almost bared her teeth at the female but she refrained from doing so, not wanting her animal instincts to remain out and about longer.

        "This wasn't really my experience," Sam told Dean as he glanced around uncomfortably. He wasn't much of a partying kind of guy. He was more of a goody two shoes when it came to this sort of thing. Whenever there were parties, he mostly tended to be in libraries, studying hard to get straight A's. He was kind of like a geek, in a way. He didn't care much for the parties, just the grades. What had nearly happened earlier, with the guy supposedly spiking a drink and trying to get Selena to have it, was yet another example of why he didn't like partying. Things tended to end badly for someone in particular.

        Dean looked back over at Sam with a goofy smile on his face. "Let me guess. Libraries, studying, straight A's?" Sam nodded in answer as he made an impressed face, that being exactly correct. "What a geek," Dean stated as he shook his head slightly. Sam's impressed face immediately faded into an annoyed look. Selena pat Sam's arm, a half smile on her face. Riley, she didn't seem to be very engaged with the conversation because she appeared to be fuming, her eyes on all the females there; all of them were attractive and they looked like they'd be Dean's type. Riley broke out of her fuming session and her gazing when Dean swatted at her arm. "Riley, you listening?" he asked. She glared at him and he smiled cheekily. "I knew that would work," he stated, pleased with himself. He looked back towards Sam. "Alright, everyone's listening. You do your homework?"

        "Yeah," Sam answered as he pulled out a rolled up piece of parchment paper. "It was bugging me, right? How is the Hook Man tied up with Lori?" He was asking these question rhetorically, not wanting any of them to answer. The four of them began to move through the building, sticking together as they tried to move to a more private area but they didn't really have much luck with that, considering that there were students absolutely everywhere in that frat house. "So, I think I came up with something," Sam continued as Dean unraveled the parchment paper, glancing through the paper in his hand. "There's a pattern here. In both cases, the suspect was a man of religion who openly preached against immorality. And then found himself wanted for killings he claimed were the work of an invisible force. Killings carried out, get this, with a sharp instrument," Sam explained to them.

        Riley raised an eyebrow as she looked at Sam, the four of them having came to a pause in front of a nearby pool table. Dean and Sam were facing each other, their backs on either side of the open doorway. Riley and Selena were on either side of the brothers, facing towards each other and somewhat the brothers. Basically, the four of them made a square. "But Sam, what the hell does this have to do with Lori?"

        Selena answered instead of Sam, knowing exactly what was up. "A man of religion? One who openly preaches against immorality?" Riley looked at her confused and Selena sighed, glancing over at Dean. He nodded, showing that he understood where this was going; the information, not the conversation. Selena looked back towards Riley. How come Riley had no clue what the hell she was talking about when she was the one who had actually met the Reverend? "Riley, it may be Reverend Sorensen who is summoning the spirit of Jacob. Although, it would seem that instead of saving the whole town, he just wishes to save his own daughter. Or perhaps the spirit has just latched onto the Reverend's repressed emotions and is feeding off of them." She looked away from Riley, seemingly staring into space as she started getting lost in her thoughts. "But then again, we may be wrong about that. It could easily be Lori that the spirit is feeding off of but we do not necessarily have the proof we need for that to be an option of what could be occurring."

        "Either way, I think you and Sam should keep an eye on Lori tonight," Dean stated, staring at Selena. She looked at him, tilting her head in question as to why he was suggesting this. Being around Lori meant that the chance of seeing the Hook Man was higher. "I just think that it would be better if the two of you stayed together." He wasn't oblivious to the fact that the two of them had been sticking close together throughout the entirety of the case. Additionally, he trusted Sam to be able to protect Selena if needed be and he trusted that Selena would protect Sam in return, knowing that the two of them had some sort of bond going on that was different than the one he himself had with Selena; his friendship with her seemed more like a sibling kind of bond while Sam and Selena had a protective friends kind of bond right now, though he could be wrong and it was the same sort of bond for those two like it was for him and Selena.

        Selena stared at Dean for another moment before she nodded, agreeing with this plan. She looked over at Sam and Sam nodded in agreement with the plan as well. "What about you and Riley?" Sam questioned Dean as he looked towards him. He was curious as to what Dean had in mind for them to do and he was hoping it was something to do with the case, not something of another nature. Selena appeared to become interested in this as well, her attention turning back towards Dean. Riley, who was remaining quiet the entire time, looked over at Dean herself, an eyebrow raised as she waited for him to say something. Yes, what indeed where the two of them going to do?

        Dean looked past where Selena was standing, his eyes landing on an attractive blonde woman in a short red dress. She had a pool cue in her hand, she was standing beside the pool table, and she was smiling at him, her eyes inviting him to join her in a game and perhaps more than just a game. Dean looked away from her and he looked towards Sam. "Riley and I are gonna go see if we can find that unmarked grave," he revealed finally, speaking reluctantly. He'd rather be playing pool with that hot chick. Or with anyone hot really. Perhaps Riley. Yeah, he'd rather be playing pool or something with Riley than just going searching for a grave with her. Well, at least he was gonna get some time alone with her. Just not the kind of time he had hoped to have. He didn't look back towards the blonde chick and he looked towards Riley before he began moving past her, shaking his head in disappointment along the way. Riley, misinterpreting Dean's disappointment, grumbled curses to herself as she followed behind him...

**~March 11th, 2006; Ankeny, Iowa~**

        Dean and Riley walked alongside each other, heading further into the night with only their flashlights lighting up the darkness. The two of them were at Old North Cemetery, searching for the unmarked grave that would end all the terrors of Jacob, the legendary Hook Man. For the longest time, the two of them walked in silence as they walked by each and every tombstone. Riley occasionally stumbled because of her heeled boots and she occasionally adjusted her dress because it would slightly ride up whenever she almost tumbled over; she hadn't been regretting re-wearing the day dress before but she certainly was regretting that shit now. She definitely should had dressed better but too little, too late. She can change later after she showered because she was definitely going to need to feel fresh after this was done. As the two of them continued walking, the silence finally appeared to be killing Riley and she opened her mouth to speak up, wanting that silence broken somehow. "Dean-" she began, wishing to ask him something.

        "If this is about what happened yesterday at the church, I don't want to talk about it," he told her as he continued walking, beginning to move a bit faster than her so that he was no longer beside her. Perhaps it had been a mistake suggesting for Riley to come along with him. He didn't really want to talk about beliefs and other nonsense with her. He didn't even know why he had revealed to her that his mindset for that sort of thing was close to how hers was. Maybe it was because he could relate to how she was feeling. But he certainly didn't want to speak of that matter right now. Or ever for that matter. That conversation was done and gone. He wasn't sure why he was assuming that was what she wanted to talk about but he couldn't think of anything else she'd like to speak of.

        "Hmph." Riley stopped walking and she glared at the back of Dean's head. She certainly had been doing a lot more glaring nowadays because of him. Although, she always had been easy to annoy. "Listen, jackass," she began. Dean stopped walking with a sigh and he turned to face her, shining his flashlight her way. He sensed an argument coming on. "I was only gonna ask how you were doing," Riley revealed, causing him to stare at her with confusion and surprise. Well, he wasn't expecting that shit. Wow, he had been way off the mark. "You seemed quite disappointed back there. You still kind of look disappointed," Riley told him, a serious expression on her face all of a sudden instead of an expression of anger like it had been seconds ago. She believed him to be very disappointed with having to be with her instead of with some random hoe. If only she had her facts straight but it was so easy for her, and anyone else, to assume things.

        "I was not!" Dean exclaimed, immediately beginning to defend himself. Although, he didn't do a really good job with defending himself. Least, not right away. "I was-I was displeased!" he stated loudly. He didn't even explain why he had been displeased, slash disappointed. There really hadn't been a reason for him to explain himself, though, considering he didn't exactly know what she was referring to. What exactly did Riley think he was disappointed about? Deep down, he was curious about that. Did Riley think he was disappointed that he couldn't hang with that one chick? Did she think that he disliked the fact that he had to focus on the case instead of having fun? Because it was more of the latter than the former. And Riley was entirely wrong about him still looking disappointed because he wasn't. He was happy to be around Riley, he just wished it was elsewhere and not at some graveyard during a case. Huh, okay, maybe he was a little disappointed, slash displeased still.

        Riley rolled her eyes at him, shaking her head slightly. The serious expression on her face vanished momentarily, switching with an angry one. "Same damn thing, dumbass," she remarked. She waved her right hand, her flashlight shining around at random places because it just so happened to be within the hand she was waving. "I saw the looks you had. You wanted to get with that chick who was eye flirtin' with you. You know, that chick by the pool table. You would rather chill with her, gaming and fucking than be out here with me, trying to save lives. Am I really that horrible to be around that you’d rather ditch a case than have me on your team?" She honestly thought that he didn't want to be around her. Although, if she really thought about it, she shouldn't be so surprised about that fact if it was actually true. She was anything but nice to him most of the time. Anyone with a sane personality would know that they'd should keep their distance from her because of how rude and unfriendly she could be. She frowned a little bit when it appeared like Dean was hesitating to answer her. She was very close to assuming that he did think of her as a horrible human being to be around. Maybe she shouldn’t had followed him out of the frat house…

        Ah, so that’s what she was talking about. She thought he was disappointed with being out there with her instead of being elsewhere with someone else. Honestly, Dean wasn’t surprised that she had assumed that. He was constantly flirting with women and occasionally having one-night stands with some of those women. It made sense that Riley thought he’d rather be doing that sort of thing than be around her. Well, although she was very annoying most of the time, he enjoyed having her around. She had her moments and he had his own. He had wished that she’d be much more nicer, with them having been around each other for a while but honestly, her being nice too often would probably annoy him more so he was happy with how she was. He blinked as he realized he hadn’t said anything in response. When he opened his mouth to speak, he didn’t even answer her question. “She did not eye flirt with me,” he stated. “She _smiled_ at me.”

        An annoyed expression appeared on Riley’s face this time as she continued to frown at Dean. She spoke slowly, repeating something that she had said earlier in the conversation. “Same. Damn. Thing.” Was he not gonna answer her question? She didn’t want to assume that her assumption was correct, she wanted to hear it from him but he wasn’t saying shit that mattered. Maybe she was right. Maybe he didn’t like her after all and only just tolerated her because they were working together. Maybe it was pointless for her to want to continue this conversation. After all, they needed to get their asses back in gear and look for that damn grave.

        Dean was starting to get annoyed with this conversation. Was it even necessary for this conversation to be a thing that was happening? “Why are we even having this conversation?” he asked her, throwing his arms out in frustration. His flashlight shined around as he moved his arms and he dropped his arms to his side, the flashlight facing down towards the ground. He let out a grunt when his bag hit against his side, the strap still secure around his left shoulder. Well, they couldn’t come out here empty-handed if they were to salt and torch a pile of bones. Man, as soon as Riley answered him, the two of them were going to go back to what they were doing and that would be the end of it. They were wasting time with this conversation.

        Riley let out a sigh as she slouched over in defeat. Clearly, she wasn’t gonna get an answer to her question. She supposed that she had been correct after all. She shrugged as she took a few steps forward, moving closer to Dean; the two of them had been a little ways from each other because of Dean trying to speed walk away from her when she had attempted to speak to him earlier. “Why not?” she questioned back as she paused her movement, a few steps away from Dean now. She was using her bored tone, trying to hide all her emotions from Dean. She was still mad that he hadn’t answered her question and she was upset that he, assumingly, didn’t like her very much. “You’d rather us be entirely silent while we search for a dead man?”

        Dean stared at her continuously, thinking her words over. “...Whatever.” Apparently, this conversation would be continuing. He’d rather keep talking instead of having silence between them again. And since they were continuing the conversation, he supposed that it was only right for him to finally give her an answer to the question she had asked minutes ago. “I was only disappointed because I couldn’t do anything fun. Instead, I have to dig up a grave. The only good thing about this is that I have you as company. I would rather be here with you, saving lives than be at that party, having fun with some chick who could have a sexual transmitted disease. Happy?” In other words, he didn’t dislike Riley. Far from it, actually. He really liked her, despite everything.

        Riley blushed slightly. She was happy that it was nighttime or Dean would’ve noticed that her cheeks were turning red. Okay, so, she had been wrong to assume that he didn’t like her. Now, instead of feeling angry and upset, she felt overjoyed but she hid that emotion pretty well. “Whatever,” she replied, her tone normal again. She waved her right hand in which her flashlight was within, pointing behind Dean. “We better go find that grave and soon. I don’t want Sam and Selena to have to deal with that crazy bastard. Also,” she rubbed her right arm with her left hand as she started shivering a bit. “It’s fucking freezing out here.” How did she not notice the weather before? She should had thought about bringing a jacket. She looked around at the tombstones surrounding them, double checking to be sure that they weren’t the grave they were looking for. When she looked back towards Dean, she noticed that his bag was on the ground, along with his flashlight, and he was taking off his jacket. “What the fuck are you doing?”

        Dean rolled his eyes at her as he stepped closer to her, the two of them now right in front of one another. His jacket was no longer on his person and it was now within his hands. “I’m making a pizza,” he sarcastically remarked as he stared at her. “What the hell does it look like I’m doing? I’m being a gentleman.” He threw his jacket around her gently but rushedly, securing it over her shoulders so that all she needed to do was place her arms into the arms of the jacket. “There,” Dean stated as he lowered his hands. “Now, you have no reason to complain about being cold.”

        “What about you?” Riley questioned, her slightest of blush remaining in her cheeks. “Won’t you get cold now?” She wondered if Dean had thought that through before he did it. She was kind of surprised that he had chosen to give her his jacket. It was actually pretty sweet of him to do that, especially without her asking him to do it. Actually, if she had asked him, he probably wouldn’t had done it in the first place. While it was super sweet and all, the downside to this was that Dean was going to be the one freezing, more than likely.

        Dean shrugged slightly as he continued to stare at Riley. “Yeah, probably,” he admitted. “But you needed it more than me. I’ll survive.” He could handle the breezy weather. Hell, Riley probably would’ve been able to handle the weather too but he didn’t want to be rude and allow her to be cold while he stayed warm. So, he had handed over his jacket. Honestly, it wasn’t even that cold out, not to him at least, but it was nice that he was able to do something for Riley.

        Riley didn’t respond for a moment. Her eyes remained locked with Dean’s and they just stood there, staring at one another for the longest time. The darkness of the night was slightly being lit up by the brightness of the moon, it having been hidden behind a tree earlier and the flashlights were still lighting up the darkness as well, though Dean’s flashlight was still laying on the ground by his bag. Dean and Riley continued to stare at one another, getting lost in each other’s eyes and one would believe that either one or both of them would start leaning forward to deliver a kiss but that did not occur. Instead, Riley finally glanced away from Dean, her eyes shifting to the left. “Ummm…” She felt a little awkward, not sure what to say at this point. “Thank you. For lending me the jacket. That was really kind of you.” She looked back towards him, staring at him with slightly sadness. “And I’m sorry for being so aggravating.” She was well aware that she did, at least, get on his nerves sometimes, despite him liking her company.

        Dean made a face as he shook his head. “Nah, it’s nothing.” He stepped backwards, moving away from her slightly before he turned away from her completely, walking over to where he placed his bag and flashlight. As he picked them both up, he continued speaking. “Don’t get me wrong. I agree that you’re very aggravating but you aren’t that aggravating.” After all, he did state that he enjoyed her company so that meant that regardless of her behavior, he liked her. In a friendly way, of course. Definitely just in a friendly way. Totally just in a friendly way (obviously, he liked her more than in a friendly way).

        Riley let out a laugh, shaking her head as she moved to stand beside him. “Jee, thanks a lot,” she told him as she lightly pushed him. Dean cracked a smile as he rolled his eyes at her. Finally, the two of them began walking through the graveyard again, once more searching for the unmarked grave. Within two minutes, the two of them reached its location. They were able to tell that it was the grave they were searching for because on the headstone, there was an engraved cross symbol. Riley let out a sigh before speaking sarcastically, referencing a quote from a Star Wars film that was said by the character Anakin Skywalker. “This is where the fun begins.” Dean scoffed at her words as he dropped the bag onto the ground. Yeah, this definitely wasn’t going to be fun. For him. Because there was no way that Riley would be able to dig up a grave while wearing a dress. There just was no way that would happen. Yet exactly that ended up happening.

        Pulling two shovels out of the rather large bag that Dean had been carrying with him, he and Riley got to work quickly. However, even with their teamwork, the two of them were having some troubles with getting this done quickly. They had been shoveling dirt long enough that both of them were dirty, sweaty, and tired. Although, Dean seemed more bothered by it than Riley was. “That’s it,” Dean panted out as he shoveled up some more dirt and placed it outside of the hole that they had dug themselves into. He paused for a moment, wanting to catch his breath. “Next time, I get to watch the cute girl’s house,” he stated. Anything was better than digging up this grave.

        Riley snickered, shaking her head at him. She was tired of doing this too but she wasn’t complaining about it. It needed to be done so that they could get their job done. She shoveled up a large amount of dirt, placing it outside the hole seconds later. “Yeah, I doubt that’ll happen but good luck with that wish,” she panted out, sounding amused instead of angry. She couldn’t be angry at him wanting to be elsewhere right now because yeah, digging up graves was hard work. And yeah, Dean mentioned Lori being cute but eh, that was fine. It wasn’t like he called her hot again or anything. It wasn’t like he was going to be lending Lori his jacket whenever she got cold. Riley stopped shoveling, smirking at Dean as she continued panting from being tired. “Next time this happens, you’re coming here alone, buddy, because I am not about to hear you complain each and every single time we do this in the future. Or maybe you’ll come digging graves with Selena instead next time. I’m sure she wouldn’t mind. The two of you haven’t been all buddy, buddy lately.” She wasn’t wrong. Dean and Selena hadn’t had a decent conversation amongst themselves in a while. Although, that was probably because Dean had been slightly distancing himself from Selena after what had happened with the shifter. Eh, she couldn’t blame him for doing that if that was his reasoning for the lack of much communication with Selena.

        Dean narrowed his eyes at her. "Do you ever shut up?" he asked. Riley rolled her eyes and she continued smirking at him. Before Riley made a move to shovel up more dirt, Dean hit his shovel against the ground and he broke through the wooden floor of the grave. Riley lifted her shovel and placed it outside the hole, soon pulling herself out of the grave with slight assistance from Dean. After Riley was out of the way, Dean finished breaking the wooden floor with his shovel and the remains of Jacob were revealed to him (and Riley, who was now crouching beside the hole). "Hello, Preacher." He looked up towards where Riley was located and he handed his shovel towards her, letting her take it from his hands. After she had tossed it aside, she helped Dean out of the grave. Immediately after he was on his knees beside the hole in the ground, Dean began searching through the large bag he had brought with them, pulling out several items that they very much needed. He stood up and began pouring salt into the grave, the salt followed by lighter fluid. Dean, then, lit a match and was prepared to toss it into the grave and onto the bones of Jacob. "Goodbye, Preacher." However, before he tossed the match into the grave, a white fireball went into the grave and the bones began to burn up. A  _what the fuck_  expression appearing on his face, Dean tossed his match into the grave anyways before he looked over and down at Riley, Riley still crouching beside the grave. "Seriously?" he questioned.

        Riley looked up at him and she shrugged, smirking at him again. “It’s not my fault that you forgot that I could do that.” Dean rolled his eyes at her, muttering _whatever_  under his breath. Riley looked back into the grave, watching the bones slowly turn into ash because of her flames. “I hope that worked,” she stated after a moment. She wanted this case to be over with. She wasn’t very fond of it, mostly because it was a spirit and her little sister hated spirits. Oh, she hoped that Sam and Selena hadn’t had to deal with Hook Man whilst she (Riley) and Dean dealt with burning the bones. Hopefully, she and Dean had gotten rid of him before he could do more damage.

        “Of course it worked,” Dean stated as he started placing the items back into his bag. He, however, didn’t place the shovels back into the bag just yet because he and Riley were going to need them again. They couldn’t just leave their mess and risk getting found out. So, after the fire was out and the bones were ash, Dean and Riley placed the dirt back into the grave until it was completely full again. Afterwards, the two of them placed their shovels into the large bag. Thank God for that or the two of them would had been carrying the shovels in their hand through the graveyard. “Come on,” Dean told Riley as he placed the bag strap over his shoulder. “This place is giving me the creeps.” Riley nodded and she followed behind Dean as they made their way out of that area...

**~March 11th-12th, 2006; Ankeny, Iowa~ (A/N: Mostly Action)**

        At Lori's household, Sam and Selena sat out front, keeping an eye on things just in case the Hook Man was to show up around Lori again while Dean and Riley burned the bones of Jacob. Sam and Selena sat in silence the entirety of them sitting together, though Selena did whisper a thank you when Sam lended her his jacket due to Selena wearing the day dress from yesterday and she was shivering from the cold, her having not had a jacket of her own with her. Shortly after that sweet gesture, Lori had walked outside and she approached them. Few words, and a greeting, were exchanged between the three of them before Selena chose to leave Lori and Sam alone, walking away and around a corner where she silently eavesdropped on the conversation. Selena didn't react much to what she was hearing and seeing between the two of them from her hiding place behind a bush, her reactions only being just frowning when she heard depressing things from Lori and her slight smile when she saw the two of them kiss. Hopefully, nothing too bad would ruin this little moment (apart from Sam pulling out of his kiss with Lori because he couldn't continue on with it).

        However, something did indeed ruin the moment and it had indeed been very bad. Reverend Sorensen had went to the front door, calling for Lori to come back into the house. When Lori refused, Hook Man (a tall man with a hook, long dirty-blonde (assumingly) hair, and a dark, all leather attire consisting of a hat, jacket, shirt, pants, and boots) manifested behind Reverend Sorensen and he drove his hook into the man’s shoulder, dragging him inside the house and the front door slammed shut as this occurred. Lori didn’t make a move to get up just yet, in shock by what just happened, but Sam dove down to his bag, pulling out a shotgun full of rock salt and he sprinted towards the house. After entering it, he heard screams coming from upstairs and he headed up there, unaware that Lori and Selena were entering the house now. Selena, although she didn’t have a weapon in hand, was there to keep Lori safe from harm and she was attempting to keep Lori from following Sam but she was failing at that miserably; Lori was determined to get to her father. However, by the time Lori and Selena got to the room upstairs, Sam had already scared the spirit away and saved Reverend Sorensen’s life. The danger no longer around, Selena didn’t bother stopping Lori from running to her injured father and she shared a look with Sam; Dean and Riley’s mission had failed, it appeared.

        The next morning and within a hospital, Sam and Selena stated a lie to the police about what had happened as the two of them watched Lori interact with her resting father. Although, it wasn't exactly a lie but more of a half truth, really; they stated that some man appeared with a hook and attacked the Reverend, which was true but they didn't state that the man happened to be a spirit because then, they’d look crazy. After Sam and Selena got their story straight with the police, Dean and Riley arrived at the hospital, Dean being kind of filthy still since he hadn’t showered and Riley was squeaky clean since she had showered, her attire finally different (she was wearing a blue denim cardigan that was halfway buttoned, a white tube shirt underneath the cardigan, blue denim jeans, and some brown sandals; additionally, she was wearing her necklace and ring). With the four hunters reunited with each other, they spoke of what had occurred and came to two different conclusions: firstly, Jacob was feeding off of Lori (like Selena had suggested) and secondly, they needed to find the hook that hadn’t been buried with Jacob’s bones (they needed to burn it to completely get rid of the spirit).

        After taking yet another pit stop to the motel so that everyone else (Dean, Sam, and Selena) could get cleaned up, the four hunters went to the library again but in new attires (somewhat): Dean was wearing an open red shirt over a dark-gray shirt and a different pair of pants with the same shoes on as before, Riley was wearing the same thing she had changed into earlier, Sam was wearing a black collared shirt over a black shirt and a different pair of pants with the same shoes on as before, and Selena was wearing a blue leather jacket, a navy (or perhaps blue-green) blouse with white lace at the collar, blue jeans, light colored shoes, and her accessories (her two necklaces and ring). After a while of researching at the library, the four hunters found out that the hook was reforged, made into something else entirely and its location was most likely at the church.

        That night, the four hunters arrived at the church and they split up, somewhat. Sam and Selena began gathering anything silver that was within Lori’s home or within the church itself. In the basement, Dean and Riley were getting a fire going together, Riley lighting the fire after Dean placed wood into the furnace and Dean tossed salt into the fire once it had been created; now, they just needed to start destroying everything silver that could possibly be the hook. As Dean and Riley started tossing in the silver they had found, Sam and Selena entered the church basement with a bag full of the silver they had located. The burning of the silver was interrupted when the floor creaked above them. Dean and Sam went to go investigate the noise while Riley and Selena continued the tossing of the silver. The noise, however, hadn’t been the Hook Man but Lori instead, her having came there to pray. Dean returned downstairs while Sam went to speak with Lori, Selena soon joining Sam upstairs despite some protests coming from Riley who had a feeling that the Hook Man would be showing up again and soon.

        Sam approached Lori and spoke with her, listening to her sorrow as she blamed herself for what was happening. Selena stood back, allowing Sam to handle this on his own but she refused to head back down to the basement without him and Lori. Despite Sam trying to assure her that things weren’t her fault, Lori stated out loud in sobs that she was the one who needed to be punished and the Hook Man manifested himself inside of the church, unseen at first but heard because of the air whooshing and the candles going out. Selena beckoned Lori and Sam with hand motions to head back towards the basement but as the three of them got to the door, Sam opened it only to slam it back shut because the Hook Man had manifested visibly behind it, his hook going through the door.

        As a result, the three of them began running down the aisle (Lori first, followed by Selena, and ending with Sam) and they entered the back room together. The Hook Man followed behind them and as they went through another door, the Hook Man smashed the window of it with his hook. Selena gently but hurriedly pressed Lori against the nearby wall as Sam stood in the Hook Man’s way. The Hook Man swing at Sam several times but missed each one. Sam, then, gathered around Lori and Selena, the three of them maneuvering around the room as the Hook Man chased after them. Suddenly, the Hook Man vanished, only to reappear behind Lori when she moved closer to the corridor. Sam and Selena reacted quickly but in different ways and on different occasions: Sam pushed Lori out of the way and was hooked in the shoulder by the Hook Man, and Selena panicked (because the spirit was attacking Lori and because she hadn’t wanted to use her powers in this fight), swinging her arm when the Hook Man went at Lori again and she caused Lori to fly down the corridor, Lori landing roughly on her back. Although she felt instant regret for possibly harming Lori, Selena was glad she prevented the Hook Man from getting her and was happy that her fear of spirits was no more because of reasons already explained (Selena had developed other fears greater than what that one had been). As a result for her panicked heroic actions, the Hook Man went at Selena and swing at her, his hook grazing the side of Selena’s left eye as she attempted to dodge the attack fully and she was, then, thrown down the corridor by an invisible force in the same manner as she had done Lori, landing roughly beside the distressed Lori and a worried Sam (who had ran to where Lori was to see if she was okay, doing this while Selena had been ‘distracting’ the spirit).

        “You okay?” Sam asked Selena at the worst possible time. When he moved to help her up like he had helped Lori up, the Hook Man appeared beside him and knocked him backwards into a bookshelf, Sam dropping to the ground with the bookshelf nearly falling on top of him but Selena (who had sat up) managed to stop the bookshelf from landing on Sam by using her telekinesis to strongly send the piece of furniture flying into the wall to her left. Selena, then, quickly rolled to her right just as a hook came down, the hook landing in the floor where she had been. Hurriedly, Selena stood up and she grabbed onto Lori, placing Lori behind her as she turned to face the Hook Man, who was now approaching them both menacingly as he backed them into the corner of what appeared to be an office (the room they were in the entirety of this continued version of the fight). Sam got up from the ground and approached the spirit from behind but the yelling warning from Dean and Riley (both sprinting down the corridor with shotguns full of rock salt) made him stop his advances and he ducked down, Lori and Selena following suit as Dean and Riley shot at the Hook Man together, making him disappear into dust.

        “Selena!” Riley exclaimed as she ran over to where Selena sat, dropping the shotgun on the floor as she placed her hands on either side of Selena’s face. “That bastard,” she hissed as she examined the cut beside Selena’s eye. “He’s lucky he’s dead or I’d kill him.” Though, technically, them salting and burning bones or objects was another way of them killing spirits so technically, she was about to kill him. She looked back towards Dean. “I thought we got all the silver!” Why the hell was Hook Man still around? Surely, they torched everything.

        “So did I!” Dean exclaimed back at her. “Maybe we missed something!”

        Sam began to look around the room from where he sat on the floor, eyeing everything since they had clearly missed something. Dean remained where he stood, shotgun ready for when the spirit would return. Riley removed her hands from Selena’s face, making a face as she eyed the cut by Selena’s eye more; well, it didn’t look like Selena had freaked out like that last time but she certainly got injured in some way, like last time. Selena half-smiled at Riley as she remained sitting on the floor beside her (Riley), Lori, and Sam, already having in mind what was bothering Riley right now; she figured that Riley was happy to see that nothing like last time had occurred and that Riley was only worried about the cut on Selena’s face now, but what Riley didn’t know was that Selena had used her power twice and one of those times, she had thrown Lori and could’ve harmed her (though it was one of her fears, her harming someone, she had panicked and did what she did without thinking straightly about it first because there had been no time for hesitation). Selena looked over at Lori to see if she was okay (and to see if she was scared of Selena since she did witness Selena use her power, but she didn’t seem to want to scurry away from Selena, so all was well), just as Sam turned towards Lori and he spotted a silver chain wrapped around Lori’s neck, a silver cross connected to it. “Lori, where did you get that chain?” Sam asked.

        Lori looked down at her chain as she panted, out of breath from all the running that had occurred and kind of freaking out about what was happening around her. “My father gave it to me,” she answered as she looked up from her chain, her eyes connecting with Sam’s. “He said it was a church heirloom. He gave it to me when I started school.” When Sam yelled at her, asking if the chain was silver, she yelled back at him in response. “Yes!” She was confused by why that even mattered and she became more confused when Sam ripped the chain from around her neck, Sam turning away from her afterwards. What the hell was going on? Why was this happening?! Lori was scared and confused!

        In the corridor, the now invisible Hook Man began to make a long scratch on the right side of the wall with his hook, slowly making his way to where everyone was located as Dean turned slowly to watch this occur, the others silently watching from where they sat on the floor. The scratching on the wall in the corridor ended but immediately, scratching on the ceiling and wall above them commenced. All five of them looked up at the scratch marks before most of them starting reacting. In an amazing toss and catch, Dean threw Sam his weapon and some rock salt as Sam tossed Dean the necklace, both of them catching the items that had been thrown. Dean sprinted down the corridor towards where he had came, heading back to the basement. Riley stood up, picking her shotgun off the ground and she moved to stand beside Sam once he had stood up too, Sam taking aim at the scratch marks that were being made and he fired, the shot hitting the ceiling. Afterwards, Sam dropped to the floor to reload the gun with rock salt, having some troubles because of his injuries and Selena, who wasn’t doing anything except sitting there with Lori and Sam, reached over to help him as Riley fired a few shots at the scratch marks, missing her target each time because she couldn’t exactly pinpoint just where the Hook Man was. The Hook Man manifested beside Riley suddenly, knocking her weapon from her hands before sending her flying across the room, Riley roughing hitting the wall before she landed on the floor with a loud grunt. Sam turned to face the Hook Man, his gun now reloaded and ready but the Hook Man moved quickly, knocking the weapon into the wall furthest from where Lori, Sam, and Selena were. Lori crawled backwards into the corner as Sam and Selena crawled to be in front of her, the Hook Man towering over them as he raised his hook in the air. Thankfully, before Selena could even attempt to see if her power would work against the Hook Man, the hook began to melt and the rest of the Hook Man’s body began to burn into nothing, Dean having had succeeded in burning the silver necklace in the basement. All was well once again…

**~March 13th, 2006; Ankeny, Iowa~**

        Morning came and it wasn’t a very quiet morning, not at all. Officers were walking around the grounds of the church and an ambulance was parked outside, Sam sitting within it as his injuries were dealt with. Dean was speaking with an officer, the one that had arrested him the other night, about what happened before stating that the officer didn’t have to worry about him and Sam anymore because they wouldn’t be there much longer. While those two brothers were occupied with two different things, Riley and Selena were standing by their vehicle, speaking to one another. Riley was alright, minus a few bruises from being thrown and Selena was alright as well, minus a few bruises and the cut beside her eye. Luckily, the cut hadn’t been that deep and it would heal up okay eventually, a bandage having been placed over it by a paramedic to avoid it getting infected by something. Both half-sisters were eyeing Lori as she moved to the ambulance to speak with Sam.

        “They kissed, you know,” Selena informed Riley as she watched Lori and Sam talk in the distance. Riley looked away from the scene, looking towards Selena with an extremely surprised look on her face; she could’ve sworn that Sam wasn’t over Jess and now, she was hearing that he smooched some chick he hardly knew. Selena glanced over at Riley, taking note of the look of surprise coming from her. “Lori kissed him first, of course,” she explained, watching as Riley’s surprise immediately died down. “But nonetheless, the two of them had locked lips with each other.” She tilted her head slightly, a frown on her face. “Sam seemed to had enjoyed it for a moment but then, he had stopped. He had been thinking about Jess again.” She really wished that Sam would let go of Jess, let go of his need for revenge. Perhaps it was still too soon for him to move on but he certainly didn’t need to take this route. She had noticed a few times in which Sam seemed to care more about finding his dad and the monster than helping others but she supposed that was normal for someone who wanted revenge. She hoped that he would change his mindset eventually but it may be a while before that occurs. She additionally hoped that he wouldn’t get himself killed because of this personal mission of his.

        Riley shook her head, releasing a very long sigh as she looked back towards where Lori and Sam stood. “That boy needs to move on with his life. Nothing is going to bring Jess back from the dead. I know this because I tried several times to find some way to bring Brian back before giving up. There’s just absolutely nothing out there to make it possible.” Selena made a face at those words. Oh, boy. Riley didn’t know how wrong she was, her not being aware of the fact that Juliet had found a way through magic, though Selena really hoped that Juliet listened to her and had stopped her attempts of learning how to do it. “I get that he wants revenge,” Riley continued. She herself had wanted revenge when her parents and Brian were killed. “But there’s plenty of fish in the sea. He should bang Lori while he can.” Selena stared at her with a disgusted look on her face and Riley looked over at her, letting out a laugh. “Sorry. But damn, I didn’t know Sam had it in him to make out with a stranger.”

        “Mmm,” Selena hummed, her face of disgust slowly fading. She looked away from Riley but her gaze didn’t go back towards Lori and Sam. This time, her gaze had gone to Dean and she watched as he continued speaking with an officer. “I never got the chance to ask,” she said, looking back towards Riley yet again. Riley looked at her questionably. “How did your trip with Dean go? Surely, you both talked some about things.”

        Blush appearing in her cheeks, Riley avoided making eye contact with Selena. She kept her eyes everywhere else but towards Selena. “Eh, it was okay, I guess,” she stated. “We fussed a bit, he admitted he liked my company, and he lended me his jacket like a gentleman when I started getting cold. It was a complete surprise.” A faint smile appeared on her face. “I didn’t know he had any manners.” She really liked the little bonding that she and Dean had while they were searching for Jacob’s unmarked grave. Mostly, the conversation was decent and things were said, things were done. She was still happy that she had gotten a honest answer out of Dean. She felt reassured, felt that maybe Dean did like her in ways that were definitely more than friendly. Gosh, she really hoped that this wasn’t one-sided with that. She really, really liked him. She still wasn’t entirely sure what kind of in-like emotion she was feeling (either love or lust) but either way, she hoped it wasn’t one-sided on her part.

        Selena studied Riley’s face, eventually coming to one conclusion and one conclusion only. “You have fallen for him further,” she bluntly stated. Riley turned her eyes towards Selena again and she blinked in surprise that Selena had figured that out so quickly; although, she figured she had probably made it obvious with an action of some sort (which she had done). Riley didn’t bother denying it and she just stared at Selena, waiting for her to continue if she was going to continue. “Hmm,” Selena hummed, her left eyebrow raising slightly as she continued studying Riley. She was slightly surprised that Riley didn’t start denying this fact but she ignored this useless feeling and went back to speaking. “I approve of your taste in men this time around,” Selena told her. “Dean is a keeper and despite your differences, I do quite believe that you two belong together. Perhaps you may be soulmates.” She wanted Dean and Riley to find love with each other. She, also, was curious if Sam thought this way, too, about these two.

        “Hmph. Shut up with your soulmate bullshit.” Riley looked away from Selena, crossing her arms over her chest. She began to mumble to herself, mostly just ramblings about what Selena said. “Whatever. I don’t need your blessing, you know. You’re not my mother. I can have any kind of guy I want.” Her quiet ramblings died down when she spotted Dean heading their way and she cleared her throat for no apparent reason, reaching up to her necklace with her right hand.

        “How are you two holding up?” Dean asked as he paused his movement, standing right in front of the half-sisters.

        Riley scoffed. “You act as if I broke my back. I’m fine, Dean. Selena’s fine.” She unfolded one of her arms from her chest, waving said arm towards Selena as she started gesturing towards Selena’s bandaged eye injury. “She’s lucky the hook didn’t damage the sight in her left eye.” If Selena had moved a moment too late, she probably would had either lost her left eye or her left eye would’ve been gravely damaged. Well, either of those or she additionally probably could’ve died if she hadn’t gotten out of the way. Many possibilities of what could had happened if Selena hadn’t moved out of the way in time.

        Dean eyed Selena, glancing towards the bandage beside her left eye before locking his eyes with hers. “Are you really okay?” he asked her. “And I don’t just mean about the attack. I’m talking about the nightmares, too.” He had been holding off on saying that for a while now. He still didn’t know how he’d comfort her if she spoke about her nightmares but he, at least, wanted to get across that he cared and that he was still worried about that. He hated that she was having troubling dreams. He was already dealing with Sam having them and Sam was being too stubborn to say much about them, which was aggravating cause Dean wanted to help him somehow. He hoped that Selena would, at least, tell what her nightmares were about, even if he didn’t know exactly what he’d do afterwards to help her.

        Selena smiled at Dean, placing her hands together in front of her as she shifted back and forth on her feet. She lightly twisted her ring as she spoke. “I can handle the nightmares, Dean. They aren’t so bad.” However, this was a half lie because she didn’t really want anyone to worry too much about her. Sure, she could handle the nightmares but the nightmares were pretty damn bad sometimes. “They are only a manifestation of my fears. I don’t wish to harm anyone and I don’t want to become something I am not, these fears having been realized when I lost control that one time.” While her fears had been realized around that time, the nightmares didn’t start occurring until after the shapeshifter incident. “I was worried about those fears more than I was worried about facing the Hook Man but I handled myself okay, regardless. Well…” Selena hesitated before she continued, looking down at her feet for a moment as she continued twisting her ring. “I did send Lori flying with my power,” she revealed and she looked up, spotting the immediate panic that set in for both Dean and Riley. Selena raised her hands up in defense, shaking them as she shook her head too. “She didn’t get hurt, I swear. I had only done it to get her away from the spirit before he could do worse than what I could have done. I had panicked. I’m sorry for frightening you with my words.”

        Dean sighed in relief, relaxing. At least Selena hadn’t managed to hurt Lori or anyone else. “Just be more careful next time, Selena.” He sounded like a parent giving a stern talking to his child. Selena had really scared him for a minute there. He had actually thought she had hurt someone, unintentionally or not.

        Selena half-smiled at him as she lowered her hands and she nodded. She glanced over to Riley, seeing that she had calmed down too. “I am going to see how Sam is doing,” she told them both before she started to make her way towards the ambulance where Lori and Sam were standing, moving away from Riley’s car so that Dean and Riley could have another private chat of some sort. That conversation, however, was both going to take time to begin and it was going to be rather short.

        Dean and Riley remained standing by the car, a very long awkward silence occurring between them as they both stared at each other and as they both looked around at their surroundings. After a few minutes, it was Dean who had spoken up first. “So, uh, Riley,” he began as he looked at her again. She hummed as she gazed back towards him in return, waiting for him to proceed with whatever it was that he wanted to say. “I probably should’ve said this yesterday or the day before,” he continued, gaining a look of interest from Riley, “But, uh, you looked nice in a dress.” There, he said it. He complimented her. It was a little late but ey, a compliment was a compliment. As Riley blinked and stared at him, Dean thought those words over and realized that even though he meant it as a compliment, it also had sounded kind of like an insult. “Not that you don’t look nice now!” he exclaimed, suddenly in a slight panic. “You look great all the time!” Dean started blushing as he rubbed the back of his head. He hadn’t meant to say that last part out loud. God, this was really awkward. “Uh, I, umm…”

        Riley stared at him expressionlessly for another few seconds before she started smiling and laughing at him, allowing Dean to relax again. “Thanks, Dean. You know, it’s kinda cute when you act like this. With most girls, you’re confident but then with me or Selena, you get all awkward sometimes when you’re trying to be nice. You should relax. It’s not like either of us are going to bite off your head.” She took a step towards him so that they were closer together and she kissed his cheek. Stepping back from him, she began to smirk. “Besides, I definitely wouldn’t mind you flirting with me like you do with all those other girls. A girl needs a guy telling her how lovely she is from time to time, you know?” She had completely played off her words, making it seem like she wasn’t interested in him and only interested in the compliments she’d receive from flirting. “Get a move on,” she told him as she started walking around her car to get to the driver’s seat. “I’m sure Sam and Selena will be ready to get moving soon.” She entered her vehicle and began getting things in gear to move out. Dean stared at her for a moment, an unknown expression on his face. He shook his head as he smiled to himself, rolling his eyes a bit as he made his way to his vehicle; perhaps he had a chance with Riley after all but she should had said what she said in a better way (he was smiling because of his chances with Riley and he had shook his head, and eye rolled, because of Riley’s way of words). In no time, the four hunters were all seated within their two vehicles and they left the area…

**~Dreamland of Selena~**

         _Selena's eyes opened and all she could see was darkness. Nothing, absolutely nothing was in sight. No blood. No corpses. No road. No abandoned vehicles. No worn-down buildings. No complete and utter chaos. There was nothing except herself. She was entirely alone in some sort of plane of existence. She was hesitate to move, worried that if she took a step, she'd fall into the black abyss. However, her worry was pointless because she was standing on what appeared to be nothing, her surroundings nothing but supposedly black abyss and it seemed almost as if she were floating in a starless, planet-less version of space. So, she took a breath and stepped forward, her foot connecting with the ground that she realized existed, it only having been appearing to be something dreadful and then suddenly, the unexpected occurred. Although, perhaps a small part of her had been expecting this very moment to occur in some manner._

         _The black abyss surroundings began to slowly change into something more, something familiar to Selena from past nightmares. Large, heavily damaged buildings began to form out of nowhere, starting from the bottom and when the windows of the buildings oddly appeared to be entirely intact, the glass started shattering one by one as the buildings continued to manifest themselves. Next, the pavement of a damaged road began to manifest itself between Selena's feet and as the road appeared further away from her, abandoned and overturned vehicles began to pop out of nowhere, not being there one second but then there in a blink of an eye. Afterwards, the sky began to form and it was not the usual beautiful blue skies that she often saw when she was awake, it was a rather dark shade of red that very much resembled blood. Then, just a few feet away from her, the wrecked Impala appeared to rise from within the ground. Cautiously taking another step forward, Selena froze her movement almost immediately when all of a sudden, blood was covering everything that had formed around her and in flashes, crippled and disfigured corpses of the innocent were beginning to appear in random piles all around the area, ending with the pile of corpses that appeared right beside the wrecked Impala and this pile in particular affected Selena more than the others did because this pile had the corpses of Dean, Juliet, Riley, and Sam._

         _After waiting a moment in case anything else were to appear before her, Selena began to make her way towards the corpses of her friends and sisters, tears streaming down her cheeks like they always did whenever she had this image in front of her but she did not let out a scream this time, this nightmare too constant that she was beginning to get use to these sights somewhat but not enough to prevent her from crying furiously. She came to a stop beside the pile and she stared down at it in disgust, not just because of the sight but because of the actions her dream self made. However, something was different about this nightmare. Each of them had died differently from what she could make out; Dean had his guts ripped out, Juliet's head was decapitated, all of Riley's limbs were spread around the pile and her torso was laying on top of the pile, and lastly, Sam had been ripped in half and his eyes appeared to be missing from his wide empty eye sockets. The fashion in which each of them had been killed was far more gruesome than it ever had been in her nightmares. She felt like vomiting at the sight but she couldn't make herself look away. Was it really possible for her to become such a sadistic monster and cause such horrible damage like this? She didn't want to believe it. There was one more thing, something she didn't quite understand. How come her mother wasn't here, lying dead within a pile in some sort of manner?_

         _Evil, sadistic laughter suddenly filled the air, erupting from right behind Selena. She had been expecting that; this evil version of her always appeared from behind and never from the sides or front. Selena turned around at a decent pace, finding herself staring at her smirking doppelganger, her doppelganger in which stood some feet away from her. By this point, that is what Selena was calling it: The Doppelganger. Just like all the other times, her doppelganger was wearing a red dress that went to its thighs, the long lacy cloth still hanging down to its black-heeled feet and Selena's accessories were nowhere on its person. There was no sign of blood on most of its body, the blood only being located around her mouth like she had been eating someone's organs or something close to that assumption but just as it always did, it smiled cruelly at Selena with its head tilted to the side. It had only spoken to her once before, however, and every time after that, it only stared at her like this and never spoke a word, just like Selena had never spoken a word to it._

         _However, this time was going to be even more different than it usually was. Selena was going to speak to it. She needed to know something. She needed to know what it had meant with its only spoken words, no longer caring about why her mother wasn't there. She calmly wiped her streaming tears from her cheeks and she stood her ground, not wishing for this scenery to change suddenly. "What did you mean?" she asked. "What did you mean by this being our beginning?" Was it trying to tell her that she was on the path of becoming like this doppelganger? That was her greatest fear, becoming something she wasn't and she never wanted to cause any sort of harm to the people she loved, not by accident or on purpose. She had been worrying nonstop about this, mostly keeping it hidden deep down as to not worry the others but by this point, maybe she shouldn't keep hiding it. Riley had learned about it, somewhat and she had believed her words to have worked but all they had done was just temporarily calm Selena down, her fears nowhere close to being long forgotten. Perhaps there was nothing she could do to stop this. Perhaps there was a way to remain as she always had been. She needed to hear the doppelganger's words, though, to be certain._

         _The doppelganger released another evil laugh, cackling as loudly as it could. It appeared to be amused by Selena's question but Selena continued to stare at it expressionlessly. "You shall see," the doppelganger replied after it had stopped laughing, its eyes full of glee. Its voice, once again, sounded just like Selena's, yet additionally almost demonic; last time, it had sounded just like her but it had also sounded somewhat different, but she couldn't place what made it different. The doppelganger continued on smirking, delighted when a flash of fear appeared on Selena's face for a split moment. "In due time, you shall see," it continued, speaking longer than it had the last and only time it had spoken to Selena. "Because I am you. And this," it laughed as it gestured at the landscape around them, "Oh, this is our glorious future if you continue on this path you've chosen." The doppelganger began to approach Selena as its smirking never ceased. "You believe that meeting these boys, these Winchesters, has made some sort of difference in your life. You are actually quite correct with that assumption because they are the reason why you are on this path to complete and utter chaos. Unfortunately for you, this is a path in which you cannot escape, no matter how casual you are or how safe and cautious you try to be. Your fate has forever been sealed and it all started from the moment you ran into Sam Winchester." The doppelganger cackled again as it paused directly in front of Selena, licking its lips as it stared at her. "I, for one, certainly cannot wait until the fun finally begins. It could be years from now, perhaps less or perhaps more. However, I am a very patient entity and I know I will come to truly exist someday." It reached up with its right arm, placing its right hand on Selena's left cheek and it lightly pat it with a hum. "Have fun whilst you can, darling. Your goodness won't exist forever." With that, the doppelganger and the scenery vanished, the black abyss-like scenery returning._

         _Selena tried to remain expressionless but she was unable to, dropping to her knees in the room of nothingness. She shouldn't had asked. She should had just kept trying to get through her fears. She should had pretended that this was only just a nightmare. Only, this was nowhere close to a nightmare anymore. This felt more like a vision of the future, a vision in which this entity had been constantly showing her. Why did this entity have to show its ugly head? Why did it have to come into existence? Surely, it couldn't stick with her forever. There had to be some sort of way to make it become dormant, to make it leave her alone. Its words echoed through the air, filling Selena's ears constantly. Was she really doomed because of her meeting the Winchesters…? That certainly couldn't be true, could it…?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trivia (Not Really Even Trivia Anymore By This Point But Whatever):
> 
> 1) Selena's future isn't looking very bright, according to her nightmares. So keep your eyes open wide and your mind open to the possibility that Selena could become a villain in this fanfiction. A temporary villain, of course, because she's the most lovable original character. Probably the most lovable. On another note, I don't often describe the clothing of the Winchesters, mostly because I can simply just put that they are wearing plaid, leather, or the usual casual clothing. But sometimes, I will go into slight detail about what exactly they are wearing (which I did in this chapter).
> 
> 2) I greatly apologize if some moments seem effy or out of character or anything else. I did my very best, considering this episode was one of my least favorites. I couldn't think of some things for some parts, which is why some paragraphs are shorter than other paragraphs. Don't let this affect your thoughts on the story. All fanfictions have sections of it that aren't very decent. If you think I did good, thank you. If you think I did bad, I agree with you. I only like the dream sequences and a few other moments I placed into the chapter/episode.


	12. Bugs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bugs, bugs, and more bugs. Dean Winchester, Riley Piers, Sam Winchester, and Selena Grant must find a way to end this bug curse before it takes another life. Unexpectedly, Juliet Grant arrives at the scene and officially meets the Winchesters for the first time ever, joining in on the case which she believes will be an one-time occurrence for her... Spoiler Alert (Not Really): She'll be seen a lot more between Seasons 3 and 8.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if the dialogue is really effy and if the original characters didn't speak too much in a few scenes; it was actually kind of hard to include them into this episode without having them steal too many lines from the brothers. I managed to do it, though. Mostly. Some of my own original dialogue is cringe worthy so it's probably just as bad, maybe, as the episode itself? Read at your own risk. Unfortunately for you, this cannot be skipped because an important event occurs, kind of. Hope you had Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!
> 
> Important Added A/N: On a side note and off topic, there's this thing about net neutrality that's happening and people are saying that we may have to pay to use sites if the vote is passed. So like we MIGHT have to pay to use this site or Quotev or any other of our fanfiction sites. Like, I don't have a job and I do not have any money whatsoever but my parents do and unless all they have to do is pay our internet provider (or whomever) a bit more cash, they will not pay for individual sites per month or whatever IF that becomes the thing and we'll go without internet. That clearly would mean I will not be online anymore, I will not be continuing these stories if that happens. So, short answer: I will be online still IF ONLY a bit extra money needs to be paid, if nothing really changes, or if the vote fails and everything remains as is because otherwise, I won't be seen again most likely or I won't be seen until sometime in the far future. We'll see what happens. So, if I randomly vanish for several months or more, you know why now.
> 
> Warnings: Original and Unoriginal Content/Dialogue, Errors of Any Kind, Long Chapter Ahead, Unoriginal Not-So-Important Character Introductions, Difficulty With Some Descriptions of Character Appearances/Scenery, Possibility of Incorrect Information/Out-of-Character Moments, Low/High Possibility of Unrealistic/Realistic Actions or Reactions, Violence, Scenes From Episode Are Missing, Changes Were Made to Episode (Placement of Buildings or Objects May Be Different to Better Fit Within Chapter, Etc.), Reoccurring Original Character Guest Starring
> 
> Last chapter wasn't very fun to make, to say the least. I'm not saying that it turned out badly; I guess it turned out decently, if not okay, but I still didn't quite like making that chapter because I dislike the episode. Never cared much for that episode. Actually, I've only ever seen the episodes of each season once, twice now that I am making this fanfiction that follows the plots and whatnot of the show, and there are plenty of episodes that I hate, love, dislike, like, or have mixed feelings for. We all do, to be honest. You'll find out more of mine as time goes on. By the way, here's another chapter of an episode I disliked quite a lot, perhaps even hated. This will turn out lovely, won't it? Probably. I love you, guys. Thank you so much for sticking around thus far. You won't regret it, I hope (XD). I'm getting sidetracked! Read the story! Stop listening to me! Why the fuck are you still reading this author's note?! *throws a cookie at you* Read!
> 
> Nina Dobrev as Selena Grant  
> Hayden Panettiere as Riley Piers  
> Victoria Justice as Juliet Grant

_Make a wish, make a succotash wish_  
_You live the pompous life_  
_Throw kisses all the time, makes wishes don't break mine_  
_Don't be low, you better watch the road_  
_Don't be low, you got the strength and the balls_

_(Wish : Alien Ant Farm)_

* * *

**~(Approx) Between March 20th-28th, 2006; Near Oklahoma~**

        It was a very dark night. Not a single star or even the moon was up in the sky to light the way. The only light from anything were the lights of a bar that the Winchester brothers and Grant-Piers half-sisters had stopped by. Outside of the bar, the Impala and the Audi were parked alongside many biker motorcycles; clearly, this bar was for  _those_  kind of people. Laying on the hood of the Impala, Sam Winchester was reading a newspaper article about the latest death in the state and he was wearing his usual clothing wear (an attire consisting of a jacket, possibly two shirts, jeans, and shoes; aka, his usual clothing wear). Within the backseat of the Impala, Selena Grant was (as usual) sleeping her little noggin off and all seemed well for her, no symptoms of a nightmare being displayed and she appeared to be wearing an attire that she was seen in more often than not (a black leather jacket replacing her denim vest which she had somehow lost, a black shirt, a pair of black and purple jeans, and some black ankle boots, additionally wearing her jewelry; for the most part, the attire was the same).

        While the youngest of the two sets of siblings remained outside of the bar, the eldest of the sibling sets were inside, having the time of their lives. Dean Winchester and Riley Piers were working as a team, hustling some idiots at pool while having a couple of drinks as they did it. Riley, styled in an almost all navy blue attire (tanktop, leather jacket, jeans, and black shoes with some blue designs on the side, additionally wearing her jewelry), had played a game against one of the two guys first and she had purposely lost. Dean, attired in his usual clothing wear (one that was similar to what Sam wore except in darker colors and he wore an amulet), had played the second game against the second guy and lost purposely. However, currently for their third game of pool, Dean (Riley chose not to play again) was kicking the first guy’s ass. Riley sipped at her beverage as she watched Dean line up his shot and she smirked at their frowning opponents. Poor bastards hadn’t known that they were the victims of a hustle. Dean pocketed the black and he let out a cry of triumphant. Riley let out a laugh and she approached the two guys that they had played against, holding out her hand. “I believe that it’s time for you boys to pay up,” she said in a fake innocent tone.

        Both men looked like they wanted to argue, both of them clearly pissed off that they had lost this final bet. However, when one of them opened their mouth to say something, Riley raised an eyebrow and made a face, daring him to say something to her because she most definitely would knock his ass to the ground and take the earnings forcefully if she had to. Thinking better of his almost decision, he threw his stack of bills onto the pool table instead of in Riley’s hand and he stormed off, his friend not too far behind him as they moved to another part of the bar. Rolling her eyes at the sore losers, Riley dropped her empty hand and she looked over at Dean as he picked up the stack of bills. “We did good, Riles,” Dean commented as he looked at the money with a wide grin. He looked over at Riley as she smirked at him. “I say we make a pretty damn good team.”

        Riley hummed as she nodded slightly, her smirk remaining. “I suppose so, Winchester. But don’t call me Riles. We’re not that close.” Turning on the heels of her feet, she began heading towards the exit of the bar, placing her unfinished beverage onto one of the tables she went by as she headed out. Dean, still grinning, followed close behind her and he left his empty bottle behind on the pool table. As the two of them exited the bar, Riley let out a giggle as Dean slightly shoved her and she slightly shoved him back while uttering the word _jerk_  at him. It was great that the two of them were getting along rather nicely at the moment because usually, they were glaring and fussing with each other. Approaching the Impala together, Dean lifted up the wad of cash and waved it in the air as he showed it off to Sam, who had looked up from the newspaper he was reading, while Riley did a fancy little gesture towards the money they won.

        “You know, we could get day jobs once in a while,” Sam told them as he remained staring up from the newspaper while remaining laying on the Impala. One would believe that he’d only say this to Dean but considering that Riley and Selena had been with the two of them for a while now, he considered them a part of the team. Anyways, Sam disapproved of Dean and Riley’s methods of getting cash. There were much better ways to get much needed money and this way just wasn’t doing it for him (for now).

        Riley scoffed and waved her arm at Sam, moving forward until she was beside the Impala and she leaned up against the vehicle, her body facing Sam but she could easily turn her head to look between the two brothers whenever one of them spoke up. Dean gestured his right hand out for a second before he looked down at the money he and Riley won. “Hunting’s our day job and the pay is crap,” he stated as he counted the money silently.

        Sam glanced towards the bar. “Yeah but hustling pool?” He looked back towards Dean. “Credit card scams?” He shook his head slightly as he glanced between Dean and Riley. “It’s not the most honest thing in the world, you guys.” Seriously, he hated this method. He hated this life. He hated everything that came with it. He wished he could turn back time and stop Jess from dying so he wouldn’t have to go through this shit again. Well, not everything was bad since he was able to meet the Grant-Piers siblings but with what was going through his head right now, meeting them wasn’t worth it because everything else sucked ass. They haven’t found John Winchester, his father, and they haven’t found the creature, the thing that killed Jess. Honestly, this was getting more frustrating as time went onward because dead end after dead end kept recurring. He never should had left Jess alone that night… He could had avoided re-entering this life… Probably…

        “Oh, quit your goddamn bitching, Sam,” Riley commented as she rolled her eyes at him. Sam glared at her while Dean smirked to himself, still looking at the money. “Seriously, dude,” Riley continued, giving Sam a look. “You need to chill the fuck out. The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows, Sammy. We gotta do what we gotta do.” She looked over at Dean and gestured to him. “Anything you’d like to add?” she asked.

        Dean looked up from the money. “Well, let’s see.” He held out his left hand, the one that happened to be empty. “Honest.” He held out his right hand, the one that held the money that was won. “Fun and easy.” He, then, made a gesture that fun and easy outweighed honest. He looked over at Sam and shook his head slightly. “There’s no contest. Besides, we’re good at it. It’s what we were raised to do.” Those last two sentences were referring to himself and Sam, Riley and Selena not included in the mix. With Riley and Selena, they willingly chose this kind of life; although, Selena still often disagreed with the same things Sam was currently disagreeing with.

        “Yeah, well, how we were raised was jacked,” Sam stated. Their childhood went out the window the minute their mother was murdered by some supernatural being. Hell, Sam never had a childhood while Dean had a very short one. On a side note, Selena never had a real childhood as well while Riley had one like every normal human being. So, out of the four of them, Riley was the only one who truly had a very normal life at one point while the others did not.

        “Yeah, says you,” Dean stated as he looked back at his money, returning to counting it. He glanced back up at Sam for a moment to speak further. “We got a new gig or what?” he asked before glancing back down at the money. Riley glanced over at Dean for a moment before she turned her gaze back towards Sam, waiting for him to say something. At the corner of her right eye, she could see Selena shifting in the backseat of the Impala but Selena remained fast asleep.

        “Maybe,” Sam answered as he looked back at the newspaper in his hand. He removed himself from the hood of the Impala as he began to somewhat read the newspaper article. Actually, he was basically summing up the summary of the article in his own words, to some extent. “Oasis Plains, Oklahoma. Not far from here.” He began walking around the Impala and he stopped to be standing in between Dean and Riley, somewhat. “Gas company employee.” He paused his speaking for a moment as he glanced up, watching as Dean held out half of the winning money to Riley. Riley glanced over at Dean when she saw him gesturing the money at her from the corner of her eye and she shook her head, gesturing for him to keep it but Dean gave her a stern look, continuing to hold out the money. Riley stared at Dean for a second before she rolled her eyes and she took the money, folding the cash and placing it into her jeans pocket before she looked back at Sam. Sam raised an eyebrow but said nothing about what just happened, continuing with the words he had been saying. “Dustin Burwash supposedly died from _Creutzfeldt-Jakob_ ,” he said as he placed the newspaper down on the hood of the Impala. While Riley nodded, Dean gave Sam a confused look as Sam looked at him. “Human mad cow disease,” Sam explained in less formal wording so that Dean would understand.

        A thinking expression appeared on Dean’s face. “Mad cow?” he questioned. He placed his half of the winnings into his jacket pocket as he leaned over to look at the newspaper. “Wasn’t that on _Oprah_?” he questioned. He completely missed the confused, slash surprised looks on Riley’s and Sam’s face. This was news to them, neither one of them thinking that Dean would watch _Oprah_ of all things.

        "You watch  _Oprah_?" Sam questioned as he stared at Dean. His confusion and surprise quickly turned into amusement as he thought about his older brother watching something like that. Maybe he had been a bit drunk when he watched it. That had to be the explanation for it but Sam honestly didn't care because it was still funny regardless of whatever the reason was.

        "And when the hell did you ever manage to find the time to watch  _Oprah_?" Riley questioned, very close to laughing and smirking her ass off. You learn something new everyday, it seems. She was really curious, though, about how he managed to get some time to watch that. Breaks in between cases, maybe? Probably.

        For the next several seconds, Dean was trying very hard to think of something to say but he couldn’t come up with anything. Embarrassed about accidentally revealing that he watched _Oprah_ , he quickly changed the topic to save himself from becoming more embarrassed about it. “So, this guy eats a bad burger. Why is it our kind of thing?” Hopefully, this wouldn’t be another incident where one brother believed something was up while the other brother believed differently. The two of them were too often going back and forth with that.

        "Mad cow disease causes massive brain degeneration. It takes months, even years, for the damage to appear," Sam explained. "But this guy, Dustin? Sounds like his brain disintegrated in about a hour. Maybe less." That was a very impossible thing to have happen. Someone cannot simply go from looking healthy to being dead the next minute from something like that so this death had something fishy about it. What was so fishy about it, they’d have to go figure that out when they got to the place.

        “Well, that could be…” Riley began but she immediately paused and she shook her head, taking back the words she started with. “Yeah, that’s super fucking weird.” What the hell could had caused something as horrible as that? Definitely not bad food.

        Sam nodded as he glanced at Riley for a moment. “Yeah.” He looked back over at Dean. “Now, it could be a disease. Or it could be somethin’ much nastier.” Well, it definitely had to be something much nastier because there just couldn’t be a disease that could kill you off that damn quickly. There was no way that was anywhere close to being possible.

        Riley stopped leaning against the Impala and she stretched a bit. “Well. I, for one, am hoping it’s just a disease. ‘Cause I’m not looking forward to fighting something that can disintegrate someone’s brain in less than a hour.” She walked past Sam, heading towards her vehicle that was parked nearby. “Lead the way, you giants,” she stated as she hopped into her car, literally. Without a word, Dean and Sam entered the Impala. Soon enough, both vehicles were driving away and into the night as they left the bar…

**~(Approx) Between March 20th-28th, 2006; Oklahoma~**

        It was daylight when the Impala and Audi pulled up to the Oklahoma Gas and Power Company building. Both vehicles parked beside each other, Riley stepped out of her Audi while Dean, Sam, and Selena (who awoken from her beauty rest just a few minutes before they got there) stepped out of Dean’s Impala. There were very few open parking spaces left, other vehicles parked here and there. The four hunters walked across the parking lot, heading straight for the white work truck that a dark-haired man was standing by.

        “Travis Weaver?” Sam asked as the four of them stopped walking, all of them standing before the man. The man, supposedly named Travis, stared at the four of them suspiciously, eyeing them one by one. Dean was standing up front with Riley standing behind him towards the left while Sam and Selena were standing behind him towards the right. All of them had serious expressions on their faces; luckily, Selena had woken up just in time for everything to be explained to her before they had gotten there or she would had been very confused and a confused expression would had been on her face instead. At last, the man nodded in answer, confirming that he was indeed Travis. You see, Travis was the only one to witness the end of Dustin, to an extent; well, he saw him alive one minute and then, in the next minute, he saw him dead but he didn’t actually see the man die, only seeing the aftermath of whatever had happened.

        Dean glanced back towards Sam, somewhat Selena, and somewhat Riley before he looked at Travis again. “Are you the Travis who worked with Uncle Dusty?” he asked the man. He had a plan in mind already, which happened to be the usual plan for these kinds of things. Step one: lie his pants off to get information. Step two: figure shit out. Step three: deal with the monster or whatever it was. Step four: repeat these steps when a new case begins. Same old, same old. Nothing new, really. Except for maybe some of the things they dealt with.

        Travis nodded again, standing up a bit straighter as he stared at the four hunters. “Dustin never mentioned nephews. Or nieces, for that matter.” He appeared to still be a bit wary of them, suspicious of them. Well, who could really blame him? He never heard of them before and he never saw them before so he couldn’t just take Dean’s word for it. That would be stupid. That was like saying he should trust a clown that happened to be holding a knife and it just so happened to be beckoning him to come closer to it. Only a complete moron would fall for that shit. He’d need some sort of proof but then again, part of him believed this lie. Why? It was better to believe something than to question it. Most human beings were like that because they’d rather believe one thing rather than the worst thing.

        “Really?” Dean questioned. “Well, he sure mentioned you.” Riley, Sam, and Selena nodded in sync with each other as they automatically agreed with Dean’s lie. “He said you were the greatest.” He had a small smile on his face as he lied straight out of his ass. This was just one of the many things that made him amazing at being a hunter. He could very easily kiss ass to get things he wanted, most of the time. He had better chances of people believing him and his lies than he had chances to get with every girl he flirted with because half the time, the girls he flirted with would leave him in the dust because of numerous reasons.

        Travis began to smile rather largely as he looked down a bit. “Oh, he did? Huh.” There goes the suspicion that he had of the four hunters because Travis was choosing to believe what he was hearing. He liked the thought of Dustin having said great things about him. The two of them had been good, perhaps decent, friends for years, after all. It really was nice to hear this information, whether it was true or not (and it definitely wasn’t true, in this scenario, but he surely believed it). Some sadness began to show in his happy expression as he thought about how Dustin was gone and never coming back.

        “So, uh, what exactly happened out there?” Riley asked, wanting to get to the point of why they had came there to begin with. Enough small talk, they needed information about the incident. She didn’t want to give two shits about this man and his feelings. She just wanted to get the info, check out the site, and then head off elsewhere to get more info and whatnot. God, she couldn’t stand this mess sometimes. Depending on the person and the story they had, she’d either actually care or she’d be like how she was now, not giving a shit and wanting this over with.

        Travis began to frown as he shrugged, looking over at her for a split second before he turned his attention towards all of them again. “I’m not sure. He fell in a sinkhole, I went to the truck to get some rope, and, uh…” His voice broke for a split second and he paused for a moment, gulping. “By the time I got back…” This was a very touchy conversation for him. He didn’t want to talk about what he saw, what had happened. He wished that it had only been a nightmare but sadly, this was a nightmare that he wouldn’t wake up from.

        “Did you see anything peculiar at all when you came back?” Selena asked with a frown. She didn’t like having to ask him this but it was for the case. She could tell how much this was bothering him but information was, sadly, needed. Travis shook his head and the question seemed to bring out more of the man’s emotions as he appeared to be either close to crying or just was becoming much more uncomfortable with the conversation. Unfortunately, Selena had to ask further questions and if she didn’t ask, it was likely that either Dean or Riley would ask and it would be in a non-sympathetic way. “Not even wounds of any sort?” she asked as she tilted her head, still frowning. Travis shook his head once again. “I see. Such a shame, though. He was a good man. He...cared deeply for others, even when he didn’t often show it.” She was lying, of course, since she never knew the man but these words seemed to touch Travis as he half-smiled at her, nodding slightly so it appeared she had said something that was actually correct.

        Travis opened his mouth to speak but words failed to escape for a few seconds. “...Well, he was bleeding,” he revealed to all of them. “From his eyes and his ears, his nose. But that’s it.” He shrugged slightly. “It could be this mad cow disease but I don’t know. That’s what the doctors are sayin’ about it, anyway.” He wasn’t entirely sure if that is what caused his friend to die, but something surely killed him and it had to be some sort of disease that must had gone undiagnosed.

        “But if it was, he would’ve acted strange beforehand,” Sam began, shaking his head. “Like dementia, loss of motor control. You ever notice anything like that?” He was simply trying to get to the bottom of this. He, and the others, needed to be completely sure that it wasn’t mad cow disease that killed Dustin. Because if it was some disease, they could go ahead and leave because that would mean this wasn’t a case that concerned them.

        Travis shook his head adamantly. “No, no way.” He stopped his head shaking and he looked like he was unsure of what to think. “But then again, if it wasn’t some disease, what the hell was it?” What the hell was it, indeed. That was something the hunters were going to try and find out.

        That conversation ending, Sam asked where the sinkhole was located and Travis willingly gave them instructions to the location without asking why he and the others wanted to know. For all he knew, maybe they wanted to stay away from the location since he believed them to be related to the dead man. The instructions to the work site were given to the hunters and soon enough, the hunters returned to their vehicles and were off to a new location. Reaching the construction site, the four hunters arrived in the area where Dustin had died. Parking the vehicles, the four of them removed themselves from each car and they walked over to the obvious sinkhole that was surrounded by police tape. Everyone in the area that was either working or walking around as they took a short break didn’t seem to pay them any mind, not caring about why they were there or they simply just didn’t care to notice them in the first place because they were too busy working.

        “Huh,” Dean commented as he peered over the police tape, his eyes on the sinkhole of doom. “What do you think?” he asked the others as he looked towards them. Riley shrugged, shoving her hands into the pockets of her jacket as she stared down at the sinkhole. Selena didn’t answer in any sort of way and she just appeared to be entirely uncomfortable about something as she glanced around at their surroundings; most likely, she didn’t like doing this in broad daylight where they could easily get caught by someone, namely the workers that happened to be all around the area but luckily, those workers weren’t paying any attention whatsoever to the four of them.

        Sam shrugged like Riley had, only he actually gave a verbal response as well. “I don’t know, but if that guy, Travis, was right, it happened pretty damn fast.” Whatever this creature was, it could kill someone in mere minutes or perhaps mere seconds. Either way, they needed to be careful. Together, the four of them ducked underneath the police tape and they circled around the hole in the ground. Everyone, except for Selena, crouched down beside the hole.

        Dean reached into his pocket and he pulled out a flashlight, shining it down into the very dark and not so roomy sinkhole. If there was any sort of evidence as to what had killed Dustin, that evidence would be down in the sinkhole. Just, uh, they’d have to decide who was going down into the darkness where danger could still be lurking. Thankfully, that decision didn’t need to occur just yet. “So, what? Some sort of creature chewed on his brain?” Dean questioned as he peered down into the hole. Not much could be seen within it, apart from lots and lots of dirt.

        Riley made a face of disgust at the thought of that. “God, I hope not. That sounds really disgusting.” She shook her head slightly as she stared down into the hole. She thought a bit about what Dean had said, thinking it over. Well, he could be half right. Perhaps this thing did munch on the man’s brain but because of no obvious wounds, it likely did it from the inside. “If that were the case, Dean, there would’ve been an entry wound of some kind. But, then again, this thing sounds like it works from the inside to the outside, like some sort of parasite. So, you may be half right about this, probably.” It being a parasite, possibly, was just as bad as it possibly being a brain-eating monster of some sort. Whatever this thing was, Riley honestly wanted no part of it near her person. God, let this monster be anything but a parasite and fucking zombie because she ain’t having that mess, nope. Fuck that shit.

        “Looks like there’s only room for one,” Dean stated as he straightened up, no longer crouching by the hole. Turning off his flashlight, he maneuvered underneath the police tape and he approached a nearby coil of flimsy rope. “You wanna flip a coin?” he asked Sam as he glanced back towards him. In his mind, either Sam or himself was going down there. He didn’t want either of the girls going down the hole, for both slight overprotective reasons and for no apparent reason. After hearing Sam’s protest about going down the hole when they didn't know what was down there, Dean smirked at him. “Alright, I’ll go if you’re scared.” He walked back over to the sinkhole with the coil of flimsy rope in his right hand. “Scared?” he asked, his attention only on Sam.

        “Flip the damn coin,” Sam stated as he stared at Dean. To his right, Riley and Selena were eying both brothers in two different ways; Riley had an annoyed expression on her face because she found this to be completely ridiculous and she was very close to just hopping down into the hole yolo-style, and Selena had her head tilted to the side, a look of slight confusion and interest on her face as she temporarily watched. Dean, standing to Sam’s left, let out a chuckle as he moved back underneath the police tape and he moved the rope into his left hand as he dug his right hand into his jean’s pocket to get a coin out. He tossed the coin into the air but Sam caught it, demanding that he was the one to enter the hole. "I'm going."

        As the brothers slightly argued about who was going into the hole of uncertainty, Riley rolled her eyes at them and she turned to look at Selena, prepared to speak her opinion about the brothers’ idiocy before she would hop into the hole, putting herself at risk of getting harmed. However, she immediately let out a yelp as she saw Selena jump into the hole without a rope and without warning; Selena had done exactly what Riley had planned on doing. Cross between being surprised at Selena’s actions and being worried since she wished she had been the one to place herself into potential danger, she quickly looked over at the brothers again to see Sam wrapping the rope around his waist. “Guys!” she exclaimed to try and grab their attention. Both brothers stopped what they were doing, which was bickering, and Riley threw out her arms. She pointed towards the hole. “Selena jumped in.” She probably should had said that in a more frantic way instead of calmly but hey, it did the trick either way.

        Both of the Winchester brothers exclaimed at the information, yelling what as they both looked towards where Selena had once been standing. After seeing that Selena was no longer there (which confirmed Riley’s words), both of them looked down into the hole with Riley and Dean pulled out his flashlight again, shining it back down the hole. There she (Selena) was, chilling at the bottom of the hole. It would be a lie if one said that none of them were panicked because all three of them were kind of panicking. “What the hell, Selena?!” Dean yelled. Why he was the first to speak of Selena’s actions, who knows? “You could get yourself killed! You don’t know what’s down there! Are you hurt?!” Funny how he and Sam had both been willing to put themselves in potential danger that could or could not lead to death, and now, both of them were panicking about Selena potentially getting harmed or killed.

        Conveniently, Selena was unharmed from the fall and she appeared to be in entirely one piece after being down there for a few seconds or so. Only harm being done was the dirt getting all over her clothing, sort of. “I am quite alright,” Selena answered immediately, bringing some comfort to all of them as she spoke loud enough for them to be able to hear her. She looked around the hole, not really seeing much since it was mainly dark. “I cannot see much, it’s quite dark.” Seconds later, Dean’s flashlight landed on her head and she gripped her head as the flashlight rolled into her lap. “Umm, ow. That rather hurt, you know.” She looked up the hole to see Dean smiling apologetically as she rubbed her head; he had accidentally, but coincidentally, dropped it. Picking it up from where it landed (in her lap), she shined the light around in the hole. There really wasn’t much to see down there, minus all the dirt and a few dead insects. “Nothing seems to be amiss down here, everyone. Apart from there being very little space and several deceased beetles.” She looked back up towards where she came from, still seeing the three currently semi-panicked hunters in view. “Should I pick up one? Perhaps there may be something peculiar about it. It could even be some sort of lead to what we are dealing with here.” Unlike most females, Selena wasn’t afraid to touch an insect, especially dead ones since they couldn’t do any kind of harm.

        Sam (and Dean, and Riley) sighed in relief at last, almost entirely calm again. He (Sam) removed the rope from around his waist and he was prepared to toss it down the hole. He, and the others, weren’t about to take any chances of Selena suddenly being attacked down there without any sort of means of escaping. “Yeah,” he answered Selena. Down below, Selena picked up one of the dead beetles and she kept it firmly in her grasp. “I’m tossing the rope down,” he informed her before he began lowering the rope. That was enough excitement for one day…

**~(Approx) Between March 20th-28th, 2006; Oklahoma~**

        When Selena was out of the hole, Riley spent the next three minutes squeezing her to death (almost quite literally) as she told Selena how much she had been worried before she spent two minutes searching for any injuries that Selena may or may not had obtained, also while telling Selena how much she had been worried. After those five minutes went by with the Winchester brothers watching with amusement and relief, Riley headed to her vehicle while Selena returned to the Impala with Dean and Sam, getting into the backseat as usual. Surprisingly, none of the workers had even noticed all of the yelling that had commenced when Selena had dropped down the sinkhole. She would had been shit out of luck if she had been alone because she would had been stuck down there (and probably would’ve died, also, maybe).

        Whilst on the road, Selena shifted into the middle seat of the backseat and she leaned forward, her mind off of potential road hazards as she held out her palm to Sam, showing him the beetle. Sam carefully took the dead beetle from Selena and placed it into his open right palm, and he began to look at it, trying to spot any signs of abnormality it may have. Dean glanced over at the beetle in Sam’s hand and he began to speak, sharing his disinterest in the discovery. “So, you found some beetles in a hole, in the ground. That’s real shocking, Selena.” While he was happy to know that she was alive and very much well, he believed that the little trip inside the hole had not been worth the effort since all that was found was some dead beetles. Big whoop.

        Selena frowned as she sat back into her seat, buckling up afterwards for safety measures. “Must you be such a smartass, Dean Winchester?” In the front seat, Dean’s eyes widened in surprise since he hardly ever heard her swear and Sam smiled to himself, amused. Selena went onward with an explanation of what she had seen. “There were no tunnels, no sort of tracks. There was no evidence of any other creature having been down there. Normally, certain beetles eat dead meat but perhaps these ones had a, um, kink for something fresh. I found, at least, ten of them down there but maybe there had been more than that originally.” She was almost entirely certain that these insects had something to do with Dustin’s death. She didn’t see any other reason as to why she had found them in that hole. If they had been there just to be there, there would had been many more types of bugs, such as worms for instance.

        Dean shrugged slightly as he drove, shaking his head a bit. “I don’t know. It sounds like a stretch to me.” He still wasn’t very sure about this. These were just bugs. What could bugs do to someone? Nothing, if there were very little amounts of said bugs (and if said bugs weren’t poisonous or deadly). Sure, it was possible that a lot of beetles could have killed Dustin (which was the case) but that wasn’t possible (it was very possible, apparently, but he didn’t know that yet). Travis would’ve noticed a few, or a ton, of beetles on his dead friend but he did not mention any sort of bug at all. Therefore, it couldn’t be bugs that caused his death. Right? That had to be right, right?

        Sam seemed to be on Selena’s side with this, agreeing that perhaps this (the beetles) may had been the cause of Dustin’s death. “Well, we need more information on the area, the neighborhood. Whether something like this has ever happened before.” Can’t be too careful, you know? Can’t just assume that something like this couldn’t be the cause of what happened. As Dean drove the Impala through the town, something caught his eye. There was a sign for an open house on the sidewalk, towards the right of the Impala and it was decorated with several red balloons. Many vehicles were parked on the edge of said sidewalk. “What?” Sam questioned Dean, not seeing the sign since he was paying attention to Dean right now.

        "I know a good place to start," Dean stated as he continued driving, only slower now. Sam looked towards the passenger window, looking through it to see the next sign that they were slowly passing by. This sign wasn't decorated with red balloons but the message on it was slightly different, it reading  ** _Models Open. New Buyers' BBQ Today!_**. "I'm kinda hungry for a little barbecue, how 'bout you two?" Dean asked. Sam looked back over at Dean, giving him a knowing look while Selena shook her head in the backseat as she looked at the sign as well, her being well aware of Dean's love of food (especially free food). Dean glanced over at Sam before he quickly glanced towards the backseat at Selena, seeing both of their reactions to his words. "What, we can't talk to the locals?" he asked innocently. Yeah, like he was really thinking about talking to the locals right now.

        “I am very certain that your reasoning for wanting to go is actually because of the free food,” Selena commented, getting a nod in agreement from Sam. If there hadn’t been a sign on display about a barbecue, Dean probably wouldn’t had thought to stop by any of these houses in this neighborhood. Well, Sam probably would had suggested it eventually without there being any sort of sign but some time definitely (probably) would had been wasted so it was kind of a good thing that Dean tended to think with his stomach. They could learn some things about this town and neighborhood at the barbecue, by actually speaking with the locals instead of chowing down.

        "Of course not," Dean denied. "I'm a professional," he insisted seconds later. Selena hummed in response and Sam responded with a sarcastic  _right_. If Riley had been in the car with them instead of in her own vehicle that followed behind the Impala, her response would had been just as sarcastic as Sam's or perhaps more sarcastic than Sam's response and maybe a tad bit rude as well cause she ain't Riley if she ain't rude in some sort of way. Dean pulled over at the sidewalk a few moments later, parking behind someone's vehicle and, with the plenty of room that was left, Riley parked behind him. The homes of the neighborhood appeared to be very similar with each other, apart from the buildings that were being made still. The grass was entirely trimmed, each lawn having been tended to, and it was as green as it could get. It was actually a bit freaky, to be honest, with all this neatness going on. It even, somewhat, had an  _I'm a perfect neighbor_  vibe to it. The four hunters removed themselves from the vehicles and met up on the sidewalk. Riley made a small remark about how Dean should stop listening to his stomach, her having seen the sign and had automatically knew why Dean had pulled over, before the four of them began to walk down the sidewalk, heading towards the open house. "Growing up in a place like this would freak me out. The manicured lawns, the  _how was your day, honey?_. I'd blow my brains out," Dean commented, making light conversation as the four of them grew closer and closer to the house where the barbecue was commencing.

        “There’s nothing wrong with normal,” Sam replied as he placed his hands in his front jean pockets. He had a few years or so with living a normal life and he had enjoyed it quite a bit while it had lasted. He had friends, he had a girlfriend that he had wanted to marry someday, and he had a decent life that had been far better than what it was like beforehand and currently. Everything had been great, it had been perfect. Now, it wasn’t so perfect anymore because that normal lifestyle had to be put on hold for now, perhaps permanently because of the supernatural world they lived within. He should had known from the beginning that his life wouldn’t always be entirely normal, that the hunting for the supernatural would had came back regardless of what happened.

        “Yeah,” Riley agreed. Sam didn’t have as large of a normal experience as she did, her having most of her life to deal with normalities. “There really isn’t anything wrong with living a normal life. My life had been mostly normal, apart from a few minor and large setbacks like my powers, Selena’s powers, Selena’s mother’s side of the family, and a few demon encounters. But other than all of that, it wasn’t that bad.” She had friends at school, she had many lovers that came and went before she met (and lost) Brian, she had a decent family, and she had a decent life. But honestly, she preferred this life over that one because it was far less boring to hunt things and travel the United States than to go to school and do normal stuff with normal people. Only thing she wanted from her old life was her parents back, but she was never going to get them back until the day she passed on into the afterlife, just like everyone else. She still missed Brian something awful but she no longer held any lingering feelings for him; although, she still was wearing the literal heart necklace he had given her and she was currently subconsciously gripping it in her left hand as she walked.

        "I’d take what I’ve got now over normal any day,” Dean commented. He’d gladly choose to hunt monsters over having a totally normal life for various reasons. Reason one, he was raised into this life and apparently, he really enjoyed doing what he was doing so obviously, he’d say this. Reason two, he wouldn’t had met the Grant-Piers siblings if he had a normal life all this time. Reason three, a normal life sounded so much more boring than the exciting life of hunting monsters and saving innocent (and sometimes guilty) lives. He lead the three towards the entrance of the house and he knocked on the door. In no time, the homeowner answered the door and greeted them. “This the barbecue?” Dean asked, not repeating the greeting as he looked past the man and into the house. Behind him, Sam and Selena didn’t really react to his words but Riley surely did, rolling her eyes at Dean as she released her hold on her necklace.

        “Yeah,” the homeowner answered as he opened up the door a tad more. “Not the best weather but…” He glanced up towards the cloudy sky before he glanced over at the temporarily rain stained windows. He looked back towards the four and he introduced himself. “I’m Larry Pike, the developer here.” He held out his right hand and shook hands with Dean as he glanced around at everyone that was standing in front of him. “And you are…?” he asked, wishing to be introduced in return for his own introduction.

        Dean answered the question for everyone, introducing himself first before he introduced everyone else. “Dean.” He released his hand from Larry’s as he looked over at Sam. “This is Sam.” He looked behind him and he pointed towards the females, one after the other as he introduced them last. “Selena and Riley.” Finally, Dean looked back at Larry with a friendly smile. Behind him, Riley was kind of fuming about the fact that she had been last to be introduced by Dean to the man. What the hell happened to their little friendship that had developed finally? Did that vanish? No, it didn’t but Riley apparently thought it did because she was overreacting for some weird reason. Who knows why she does what she does.

        Larry shook hands with Sam as he (Larry) nodded slightly and he (still Larry) waved somewhat at the females with his free hand. He stared at all of them as he lowered his hands when the greetings were over with. “Sam, Dean, Selena, Riley,” he said, looking at each of them as he said their name. “Good to meet you.” His attention locked on only Sam and Dean after that, which could only mean that good things were about to happen. “So, you are interested in Oasis Plains?” he asked with a smile. Dean answered politely while Sam nodded and the girls didn’t really do anything in response except stared, Riley staring boredly (and she looked aggravated) and Selena staring curiously. “Let me just say, we accept homeowners of any race, religion, color, or sexual orientation,” he told them.

        All of them reacted differently to that. Dean had nodded once before the words registered in his brain and he looked horrified, very disturbed by the man’s assumption of him and Sam. Sam looked at Larry with a what expression before he started smiling, amused by what just happened and he shook his head slightly. Riley’s eyes had widened for a split second at the words she heard and she started snickering, not caring if Larry had been speaking about her and Selena too with those last words he had said because she didn’t give a shit about that sort of assumption; she just thought it was hilarious that the man thought Dean and Sam were together, and that they were gay or bi. Selena tilted her head in confusion, not towards what the man was talking about but from the man believing the brothers to be a couple. “We’re brothers,” Dean commented, setting things straight right then and there. “And they’re sisters,” he added seconds later as he pointed behind him, getting that straight as well in case the man had believed the sisters to be together.

        Larry lowered his head in slight apology, looking slightly embarrassed about assuming what he had assumed. He didn’t speak just yet because Sam started explaining a lie to him. “Actually, Selena and I are just helping the newly weds pick out a home.” Immediately, not only did Dean and Riley begin blushing but both of them became uncomfortable because of the lie. Sure, both of them liked any sort of lie that implied them being together romantically but a lie about them being married to each other? That was a bit much for both of them. Truth be told, Dean had some commitment issues (he dated, sure, but those relationships never lasted very long) and Riley just never wanted to get married because that would mean having to sleep with one man for, well, forever (even though, dating someone would result in the same thing and additionally, she hadn’t even slept with anyone for a long while because she was chasing after a certain someone). If the two of them ever actually got together, it was likely that the relationship would either not last very long or it would last forever but without actual marriage happening.

        “Mhm,” Selena hummed in agreement with Sam’s lie. She clapped her hands together as a large smile appeared on her face. “It is kind of our late wedding gift to them. Half of it, anyway.” She was all in for this lie, her being the biggest shipper of Dean and Riley. She truly believed that they deserved each other and she hoped that one day the idiots would realize that the feeling between them was mutual. It was kind of getting ridiculous with how the two were so oblivious of what was so obvious to everyone else (apart from strangers like Larry). Dean and Riley would definitely get together in the future, just probably in the far future since they both were so oblivious to obvious things.

        Larry smiled at them. “Great, great. Come on in.” He stepped aside and the four of them entered the house. Closing the front door, Larry moved past the four hunters and he began to lead them towards the backyard. On their way there, Sam had moved to be beside Selena as Riley moved to be beside Dean so that the lie could be more realistic. Upon entering the backyard, the four hunters eyed all of the people that were gathered around. Everyone was either walking around, chatting, or eating. After Sam mentioned something that Larry had stated earlier about himself being a developer, Larry began to explain things as they walked through the backyard together. “Eighteen months ago, I was walking this valley with my survey team. There was nothing here but scrub brush and squirrels.” Larry turned to face the hunters but continued moving, walking backwards. “And you know what, we built such a nice place to live that I actually bought into it myself. This is our house. We’re the first family in Oasis Plains.” Larry stopped walking as he slightly turned, causing the four hunters to stop walking as well and the man introduced them to his wife, who he had nearly backed up into. “This is my wife, Joanie.”

        After the four hunters shook hands with Joanie, Selena began to zone out of the conversation that was occurring. She just wasn’t fully engaged with it and her mind was on something else, more important matters like how come a bug killed Dustin and where did the mysterious entity in her head go. Both of these matters made her wonder about things. Could there possibly be some kind of bug-like monster that killed Dustin? Would it kill more? Who would it kill next? Was it targeting certain people? Was that entity in her head real or had she just imagined it all this time? Was she really doomed to meet her end because of the Winchesters? She blinked out of her thoughts as she zoned back into reality, coming to realize that Larry had walked off and some woman with black hair in a ponytail, and professional clothing, had walked up to them. The woman hadn’t been in front of them long, apparently, since she was introducing herself as Lynda Bloome. However, before Selena could even think about trying to focus on the conversation to be polite, something caught the corner of her eye and she turned her head towards the left, looking around Sam since he kind of got in the way; what she had seen was someone moving and they had moved to be where they couldn’t be seen unless Selena looked around Sam (cause, as said, he was in the way). Her eyes widened, unable to believe the sight she was seeing. It couldn’t be. Excusing herself from the conversation in a polite manner, she began to make her way towards the person she had recognized and she was silently hoping that her suspicions were correct. Was that Juliet that she had seen?

        Selena tapped on the bare shoulder of the person she had seen (the person was wearing a crop top) and the person turned around, revealing themselves to indeed be Juliet Grant. Juliet’s expression went from curiosity, because someone wanted her attention and she wanted to know what they wanted, to happiness, because her little look-alike sister was standing right in front of her. Without a word and mainly with just a squeal of delight, Juliet wrapped her arms around Selena and gave her a big hug as she smiled brightly from how happy she was. She had a feeling that Selena would end up there. How did Juliet get this sort of feeling? Well, she had finally decided that it was time to visit Riley and Selena, to return the visit that they had given her several months ago so she had started looking up random things that the two could possibly be working a case at and the only one that sounded supernatural enough for them was the odd case of Dustin dying within minutes. After she found that, she had came here to the town as quickly as she could and she had been here for about, perhaps, a day or two and if she hadn’t seen Selena, she would had packed her bags the next day and she would had moved on to the next potential case location until she finally saw either of them (Riley or Selena).

        Across from where the half-sisters were reuniting a second time, the Winchesters were eyeing them with a look of surprise on their faces as they temporarily paused the conversation they were having with Lynda. Neither of the brothers had expected to see Selena’s other half-sister there, nor did they expect her to look very much like Selena, even though they had been warned that Juliet and Selena looked quite alike (and that both of them looked similar to their shared mother). Riley appeared to be surprised too, but just by Juliet’s presence, and a smile soon broke out on her face as she turned towards the brothers, after she had stepped in front of them both as she removed herself from beside Dean. “Looks like you two are finally going to meet Juliet. After you’re done with your chatting, of course. See ya real soon, _husband_ and _brother-in-law_.” She smirked at Dean as he made a face at her (and Sam looked amused, like usual with stuff like this) and she turned away from them, strolling over to where Juliet and Selena stood. She was glad that Juliet was here for various reasons, those reasons being that Juliet was unintentionally getting Riley out of a situation that Riley had deemed boring and that Riley actually had kind of missed Juliet. Riley’s smile returned, replacing the smirk that she had as she stared at the hugging half-sisters that were now standing in front of her. “Hey, girl scout,” she greeted Juliet. “You’re a long way from home, aren’t ya?” She threw her arms out as Juliet and Selena released their hold on each other, both of them looking towards Riley. “Where the fuck is my hug at, bitch?” Riley questioned in a joking manner. She truly did tolerate Juliet more than Rebecca Grant, the evil bitchy mother of Juliet and Selena.

        Juliet rolled her eyes but her smile never faded. She pulled Riley over to her and she gave her a hug. To top it all off, she spun Riley around just because she felt like it and Riley laughed a bit before Juliet sat her down, Juliet once again having silently proven that she was stronger than Riley in physical strength (Riley, on the other hand, was stronger than Juliet when it came to using supernatural powers). Juliet was laughing a bit, too, with Riley after this little exchange they had and Selena was smiling at them both, pleased that all three of them were together again. “I was hoping to find you both here,” Juliet told them as she looked between them. “I had to temporarily use the mind of a hunter to locate you two and I was beginning to think I’d have to do that again.” Juliet brushed some of her long brown hair out of her face before she crossed her arms over her orange cold-shoulder crop-top. She definitely wasn’t wearing the correct outfit for rainy weather, having on some light-blue jean shorts and black ankle-wrapped sandals to go with that crop-top. She certainly was still dressing like she usually dressed. “I think it’s safe to say that we need a better way of meeting up with each other in the future so that none of us have to leave it to chance.” Although, the difficulty of meeting up with each other was worth it because of the surprise that would come from the meeting and because, well, they’d be meeting up. That definitely, probably, made sense.

        Riley scoffed but in a playful manner. “Actually, it’s just you who needs a better way of meeting up with me and Selena,” she pointed out. “We can find you back at home, just like you said we could. You don’t travel around very often so it’s not that hard to pinpoint your exact location. Us?” She gestured towards herself and Selena. “Us, on the other hand, we move around too often so you might want to invest in a cellular phone.” Juliet laughed because of the way Riley had said that and she nodded, agreeing with this little plan. Riley placed her hands on her hips and she continued speaking. “I’m assuming that since you’ve found us, you want to hang out but you do know that means you’ll have to join in on our case, right? We can’t exactly drop everything just to chill with you, you know?” Just because this was a friendly family visit didn’t mean that everything needed to be dropped. Although, Riley and Selena both dropped what they were doing to come over here and speak with Juliet, so whoops. Eh, the Winchesters could handle the business here without them, whatever it was.

        “Oh, I’m very aware of that,” Juliet answered, her laughter long gone as her serious tone came in. “And I don’t mind being a part of your case. You’ll just have to explain what’s going on to me so that I’m at the same pace as both of you.” In some ways, Juliet was a mixture of Riley and Selena in personality, but with a mix of her own type of personality in between (she was like Riley in some ways, she was like Selena in some ways, and she was just herself in other ways; it was normal for people to have similar personality traits with each other, some more than others). She began to smirk a bit as she looked past Riley’s shoulder, having noticed something at the corner of her eye. “Although, I believe I should be saying that I need to be at the pace of you two and the gentlemen you came with. I saw you walking away from them, Riley, and even if it turned out that you didn’t know them, it’s very easy to tell that they are hunters because they are out of place like the three of us.” She gestured around at their surroundings. “Most of the humans here are wearing something professional looking. We aren’t exactly doing that, now are we?” Juliet’s smirk grew as she finally got to the point of why she started talking about the Winchesters. “One of them is staring at you like a plate of meat, so there’s that.” Upon hearing those words, Riley’s face heated up and she didn’t dare turn around because one, she already knew who it was and two, he would see her blush and he would likely tease her about it later. “From your blush, I’m assuming you do know him and you know him enough that you know who exactly I’m speaking of without having to be looking at him,” Juliet finished in continuation, still smirking at Riley. She didn’t mention the other Winchester staring because Sam had long stopped, him having gone back to the conversation with Lynda so that he didn’t appear rude (it was in his nature to be respectful, mostly).

        “Actually, I believe she is just assuming that it is Dean because he seems more likely to stare at her,” Selena replied to Juliet since Riley appeared to be too shy to answer all of a sudden. She looked over at Riley before speaking further. “It really is Dean, so you were correct on your assumption,” she informed Riley, looking back over at Juliet afterwards. She had been able to see that it was indeed Dean who was staring because Selena was standing in between Juliet and Riley (somewhat) and she had seen him staring at Riley from the corner of her eye when she had turned to look towards Riley. She didn’t really agree with Juliet’s wording of how he was staring at Riley, though; from what she had seen for the few seconds she had looked at him from the corner of her eye, Dean looked like he was curious about the conversation he couldn’t hear more than he looked like he was longing for Riley. She could be wrong, though. “I am not surprised that he is the one staring at her. I believe he quite likes her more than he lets on,” Selena told Juliet, stating her thoughts on the matter. Juliet stared at her curiously and Selena decided to mention something else. “He is the male that Riley was fretting over the last time we saw you,” she revealed. Around them, the barbecue was still commencing but no one, except Dean at this point, seemed to be paying any sort of attention towards the three females. Riley, it was likely she wasn’t even hearing what Selena was talking about because she was too busy blushing and thinking about how embarrassed she was to be blushing so much.

        Juliet started smirking again as she looked back at the still blushing Riley. “He’s the guy? Seriously? Girl, I don’t even blame you for that because he is a fine piece of meat.” She let out a purr, as if she were a kitten. Riley just blushed more and she avoided eye contact this time, feeling more embarrassed by the fact that she could easily turn into some blushing shy school girl whenever she was around Juliet for too long; Juliet just had that way about her that just made Riley lower her defenses. Juliet glanced over Riley’s shoulder again to see Dean speaking with Sam before seeing Dean starting to walk off towards the house. Juliet stopped paying attention to Dean by that point, though, because Sam had caught her full attention this time around. “And who is the fine glass of water that Dean walked away from?” she asked Riley and Selena, her eyes remaining on Sam as she watched him listen to Lynda. She, if she was honest to anyone and to herself, found Sam to be more attractive than Dean. She wasn't gonna do anything about that, though. These guys were friends with Riley and Selena, not to mention that one of them was claimed by Riley already, so they were off-limits to Juliet and she didn't mind that at all. She simply just liked talking about how nice people looked and she occasionally liked bedding some of those people. However, the latter wouldn't be happening this time it seems; she had some decency in her unlike her mother, unwilling to use these boys as a means for pleasuring herself because the two of them knew her friend (Riley) and her sister (Selena).

        “That is Sam, the younger brother of Dean,” Selena stated without needing to look towards him. Additionally, of course she would be the one to give Juliet the information that she wanted. Selena tended to give out information, even when she shouldn’t give out the information; that was a rarity, though, and it only tended to happen when she was around someone she felt very comfortable with, such as Juliet, the Winchesters, or Riley. “We met both of them, officially, during a Wendigo case and it turns out that they are searching for their father, so we wanted to help them. They are additionally searching for a creature that killed their mother and Sam’s girlfriend. Sam has nightmares about that sometimes but I believe that he can overcome them.” She was probably revealing too much information but she didn’t want to leave Juliet out on anything. Well, she planned on never telling Juliet about her own nightmares but other than that, she’d tell Juliet everything. There was no need to get her worked up over nothing. It probably was nothing to worry about…

        “Selena,” Riley growled as she looked at her. It appeared that she was back to normal, no blush in her cheeks and her shyness no longer around. “That was something that Sam should’ve told her, if he ever wanted to. It wasn’t your secret to tell.” Selena frowned but she nodded in understanding since she did tend to reveal things that someone else should’ve revealed. Riley sighed, feeling bad for upsetting her younger sibling. “Sorry. Just try to keep certain things on the down low next time, okay?” Selena perked up immediately and she nodded happily, making Riley half-smile. Some things will never change. Well, Riley hoped they wouldn’t. Also, she wasn’t looking forward to letting Juliet know about Selena’s nightmares that had been occurring and she was opting to just not tell her about them at all. Hell, there were a lot of things that she didn’t want Juliet knowing about and all those things involved Selena in some sort of way. She felt that Juliet would end up taking drastic measures to ensure Selena’s future survival if she learned about what has happened since the last time they had seen her. For now, Riley chose to just leave Juliet in the dark about Selena’s problems. None of them needed a pissed off, super protective immortal being on their hands.

        ”That’s interesting,” Juliet stated, referring to what Selena had said about the two of them meeting Dean and Sam officially. She appeared to be ignoring everything else that Selena had told her, but for good reason since she, apparently, wasn’t supposed to know about it, which was why she chose to pretend like she hadn’t heard anything else. Additionally, she should had guessed that the two handsome men (Dean and Sam) were brothers. “Not that I’m surprised since I’m sure that you both meet interesting people while on the road.” She looked at Riley again, smiling instead of smirking this time. “Anyway, around the time I heard about Dean, I should had known that the man you had eyes for was a hunter. You haven’t fallen for anyone since Brian and for good reason. That new handsome slice of pizza of yours looked like he could handle some ugly beasties so good for you, girl. I say that he is a definite keeper and I will kill you if you’re stupid enough to let him out of your grasp.” In more understandable words, Riley hadn’t fallen for anyone after Brian because anyone worthy of her falling in love with just happened to not be hunters, which made them more at risk of getting killed by something supernatural while being around someone who was kind of supernatural themselves. With Dean, he was more likely to handle that stuff because he lived with it for a long time so he was more capable of not getting killed by something, making him the perfect kind of man for Riley. Plus, he just seemed like Riley’s type from Juliet’s point of view and Juliet wasn’t even kidding about killing Riley if she was stupid enough to let the man go. Okay, maybe she was halfway kidding about that but seriously, she hoped that Riley would keep Dean in her life because Riley deserved to have some sort of happiness again after all the shit that has happened so far.

        ”Thanks, I guess,” Riley said, not even trying to deny anything. How could she? She made it entirely obvious that she has some sort of feelings for Dean. She still wasn’t entirely sure what those feelings were exactly. She kind of still believed that it was lust more than it was the beginnings of her falling in love again but she just really wasn’t entirely certain about that just yet. Additionally, she quite agreed with what Juliet had said, on some level. She agreed that Dean was indeed very handsome, even though she believed that Juliet’s way of saying that was kind of weird, and she agreed that Dean was the kind of person that any woman should never let go of because he was indeed a keeper since he had all the right assets of a perfect imperfect man. Sure, Riley constantly wished that Dean could be hers and that she could be his but realistically, she didn’t see how that would work out because of the life they were living and because they’d be going separate ways eventually after their mess was sorted out at last. If she could have anything at all, she was just hoping that she’d see him occasionally after they finally split apart, whenever that was and sadly, she believed that time would be soon because they were getting nowhere close to finding the creature or John Winchester whilst sticking together. It was likely that they’d have better luck with that if they went separate ways and kept contact via a cellular phone.

        Juliet, Riley, and Selena continued onward with their conversation, but thankfully, that conversation steered away from the unimportant talk of relationships to the important talk of what was happening with the current investigation. While Juliet was being informed of what was occurring within this newest case that she had inserted herself into, Dean and Sam were actually getting some things done. Well, actually, Dean was getting some things done while Sam was just keeping someone occupied because Dean had eased himself out of that situation. Dean wasn’t doing much, though, apart from getting a little bit of information out of Larry while Larry was showing him around the house. Sam, he was just stuck listening to Lynda go on and on about how nice the steam showers were. Thankfully, due to Sam looking everywhere but at Lynda, he was able to get out of the conversation when he spotted a tarantula crawling towards Lynda’s left hand that was rested on the table beside them and he gently cupped the spider into his hands (after he politely excused himself from the conversation while also impolitely shoving Lynda away from the table). Nearby, a young boy with short brown, maybe black, hair was staring at Sam with slumped shoulders, indicating that he had placed the spider onto the table on purpose in an attempt to scare someone. Upon returning the pet spider to the young boy, Sam learned that the boy’s name was Matthew and that Matt was the son of Larry.

        In no time, Larry returned outside with Dean and he quickly maneuvered his son away from both brothers, walking him back towards the house. After seeing the way Larry and Matt interacted with each other, Sam looked towards Dean and an argument nearly broke out between the brothers because while Sam stated that the relationship between Larry and Matt was very similar to the one he had with their father, Dean greatly disagreed with that. The argument didn’t occur, though, thanks to Sam because he decided to change the subject. “Whatever. How was your tour?” he asked as he rolled his eyes. He stared at Dean, waiting for an answer and at the corner of his eye, he saw Juliet, Riley, and Selena heading towards them. He was curious to find out what Juliet was like and he was kind of hoping that she turned out to be as kind as he heard she was. In fact, he was expecting nothing but good things to happen once she was officially introduced to him and Dean.

        “Oh, it was excellent. I’m ready to buy,” Dean said with fake enthusiasm, giving Sam a look afterwards. Sam laughed for a short period of time, shaking his head once. Dean opened his mouth to say more but Sam nodded towards the females that were now standing right behind him. Dean turned around and he couldn’t help that he eyed Juliet suspiciously the moment he laid eyes on her. He stepped back to be standing beside Sam, his eyes still on Juliet. “You must be Juliet, the full-on immortal half-sister.” He was suspicious of her for a reason, two reasons actually; she was immortal, which made her nearly impossible to kill based on what he learned from Selena, and she had a power of her own, just like Selena did. He just couldn’t recall what that power was, if Selena had even revealed that to him and Sam at some point.

        Juliet nodded, placing her hands together (lowly) in front of her. “Yeah, that would indeed be me. I wasn’t aware that either of you knew about that little fact.” She side-eyed Selena, a smile on her lips as she knew that it had to have been Selena who had revealed matters to the Winchesters. Selena’s sheepish smile confirmed that assumption of hers. She looked back towards the brothers. “Knowing Selena, she must’ve told you both lots so I must say this. If you believe me to be anything like my horrid mother, you are sadly mistaken because I’m far much kinder than she is and if you believe me to be dangerous, you are once again mistaken because unlike my mother, I adore humans and I would never cause harm to anyone unless I have a very good reason to do so. Lastly, there’s no need for introductions because I’m aware that you,” she looked at Dean, “are Dean,” she looked at Sam next, “and Sam Winchester.” She grinned at them both. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.” She didn’t give them time to respond, though. “I would like to suggest that we skip over the small talk and go straight to what’s important, which would be the case the four of you were working on before I showed up and I’m willing to lend a hand since it’s the only way I’ll be able to spend time with Riley and Selena. Are there any questions before we get serious about things?” She had gone between formal and informal in just that one introduction, just about showing off the entirety of her personality.

        Sam half smiled and he shook his head. “None at all. It’s a pleasure to meet you too.” He held his right hand out to her for a handshake and she accepted it with her own, the two of them shaking hands. Juliet smiled at him and she nodded slightly in acknowledgement of what he said. Sam dropped his hand to his side after he released his grip on Juliet’s hand. He could see the difference between Selena and Juliet, just from that one exchange (her introduction, not the handshake). It was easy to tell that Juliet wasn’t entirely formal like Selena tended to be. Apart from that, Juliet seemed to have a similar personality to Riley’s but Juliet had a rather nicer, more polite version of that personality. Because of this, Sam was kind of looking forward to working with her on this case. The more, the merrier.

        “Yeah, it’s a real pleasure,” Dean said in a dull tone. He didn’t give her a handshake like Sam, completely glossing over that. The woman said no small talk and no introductions needed so that was good news to him since he didn’t care all that much for either with this woman. She was someone new, someone he needed to be cautious about. He really wished that he could tell her to fuck off but he couldn’t say that to a woman and also, she’d probably throw him across the world. Plus, she was the half-sister of Selena so that was a third reason why he couldn’t tell Juliet to go away. Despite what she said and what Selena told him, he was still very cautious because he didn’t know her and he wasn’t sure what exactly she was capable of doing to anyone, though he did have an idea in mind about that. He turned to Sam and he began to speak about the matter of the case. “So, you and Selena might be onto somethin’,” he stated. Sam looked over at him and the three females placed their attention on him as well. “Looks like Dustin Burwash wasn’t the first strange death around here. About a year ago, before they broke ground, one of Larry’s surveyors dropped dead while on the job. Get this, it was from a severe allergic reaction to bee stings.”

        Riley let out a sigh. “So more bugs, huh?” She wasn’t a large fan of bugs, if she was honest. Bugs were annoying as shit. She had been very willing to jump down that one hole just to see if there was a clue but she hadn’t really thought about bugs being in it. She was really glad she hadn’t jumped down there like Selena. She would’ve had a fit seeing those dead beetles. Like, not that she was scared of them or anything, but they just were gross and she would’ve felt like a million of them were on her person if she just looked at one. She felt like that now, actually, since she was thinking about it. She shifted uncomfortably on her feet as she waited for Dean to answer, even though she really didn’t need to hear him respond. All Dean would do was just confirm what she didn’t want. She twisted her ring as she waited anxiously for what she didn’t want to hear.

        Dean nodded. "More bugs."

        “That’s fucking great,” Riley sarcastically remarked. “I wanted that to be a thing.” She looked over at Selena, pointing at her while speaking sternly. “No more jumping into random sinkholes, okay? No more.” Selena nodded in agreement. Immediately after Riley had said that, she inwardly panicked because she and Selena hadn’t told Juliet about that. She quickly looked over at Juliet, seeing her confused expression. “It’s just an expression,” she lied to Juliet, not wanting to make her go into a random unnecessary panic. Dean and Sam both looked at Riley with raised eyebrows but neither of them voiced their thoughts on the matter. “I think we should go now or something. I doubt we’ll learn anything else here.” Riley didn’t even wait for a response, immediately walking away from them as she went back to twisting her ring. This new team effort thing was probably going to end rather badly…

**~(Approx) Between March 20th-28th, 2006; Oklahoma~**

        By the time the four hunters and Juliet left the barbecue, the sky was beginning to darken as night slowly came to existence again. Everyone rode in separate vehicles, following behind one another; Dean and Sam were in the Impala, Riley was in the Audi, and lastly, Juliet and Selena were in the Honda (which was silver and belonged to Juliet, obviously; it was also a car and not a truck). While Riley was stuck with talking to herself during her ride, the Winchester brothers talked about the case a bit more as they referred to their father’s journal within their vehicle while the Grant half-sisters spoke about unimportant matters again within their vehicle. Not much was different, apart from Selena being in a different vehicle with someone new to the group and Sam was driving the Impala instead of Dean. Eventually, Dean made Sam pull over on an empty street by a house and after explaining to everyone what he was thinking about (the females had stopped and asked questions about what the hell Dean was thinking), Sam parked the Impala into the empty garage while Juliet and Riley had to park their vehicles inside two other empty garages. In no time, however, the five of them were inside the same building to rest for the night.

        Not much of an occurrence happened while they were temporarily grouped up inside the living room; they all just stood around awkwardly, looking around at everything and each other before a few words were finally said. After that very short small talk (which was Selena making a suggestion and Dean agreeing to it), everyone (Juliet excluded) headed upstairs and went their separate ways as they entered various bedrooms. Further into the night, Sam was awakened in a cold sweat by his reoccurring nightmares of Jess burning on the ceiling. Unable to return to sleep in the comfortable bed, he removed himself from it and he made his way out of the bedroom, heading down the hallway and down the staircase to the first floor. He wasn’t entirely sure what he wanted to do while he was awake. Maybe a little bit of night wandering since he couldn’t sleep? It would just be around the house (the wandering) but it was better than nothing. However, that possible plan flew out the window when his eyes spotted Juliet on the couch within the living room, light shining down on her from the lamp (on the furniture, beside the couch) that she must’ve turned on at some point in the night. As he silently watched her for a moment, he came to realize that she hadn’t noticed his arrival and he also noticed that she was acting very inhuman (she wasn’t doing what a human would do; well, a human could do what she was doing but they’d get uncomfortable with it).

        Juliet was simply just sitting there, looking at nothing in particular as she remained motionless on the couch. One would think that she’d be reading a book or something to keep herself occupied but nope, she was doing nothing at all except for staring into space and appearing to be not breathing (which was something she didn’t need to do anyways but she preferred to do so, breathing that is). She wasn’t aware of Sam’s presence until the floor creaked slightly (for some reason) when Sam was turning to walk away, him having wanted to leave Juliet to her peace and quiet. She looked over at him, removing her right arm from the couch’s arm as she placed both of her hands in her lap (her arm had been propped up and her head had been laying against her hand). Sam didn’t acknowledge that she noticed him until she spoke up, making him stop in his tracks. “I take it that you couldn’t sleep?” she asked him gently, waiting for him to either respond or to turn towards her (his back was towards her at the moment).

        “Uh…” Sam turned back around to face her, shrugging his shoulders a bit. “...Yeah.” That basically was the gist of it. It was close to it, anyways; he had been sleeping alright until the nightmare showed its ugly head again and it had awoken him from his once decent slumber. He gestured towards her as he took a few steps closer, stepping back into the living room since he stepped out of it when he was attempting to get away quietly. “You too, huh?” he asked, continuing onward with the conversation. The two of them were wide awake so they’d might as well just talk to each other for a bit, right? It seemed to make sense to him, anyways. Much better than just silently wandering around the house they were squatting in.

        Juliet shook her head slightly but a slight smile appeared on her face. "No. I can't sleep at all. I have no need to." The need for sleep was something she'd never feel but she wished that she could. Sometimes, she just wanted to feel like she were a human being and that was something that would never occur because her needs were far different than humans. Those needs were, well, nonexistent for the most part, apart from her need to mate with someone someday, because she wasn't human at all. Humane maybe, but not human. She could easily pretend to need to eat, pretend to need to breathe, and even pretend she could sleep, even though no actual dreaming would ever occur, but she could never be human; she could pretend to be normal easily but she never felt close to being human whenever she did it because she was just too different from them in comparison. She eyed Sam, wondering what his response would be. She had assumed that Selena had revealed everything about Immortal Beings to him, and Dean, but Sam appeared to be a little surprised by the information.

        The slightly surprised expression on Sam’s face eventually turned into realization. He had heard about that from Selena but he had temporarily forgotten about the fact until now. He wondered what else he had forgotten about Immortal Beings but it wasn’t like that mattered since the information was just somewhere at the back of his mind still. He hadn’t thought that he’d need to recall any of that shit; at the time of him learning of the species, he was interested (intrigued even) but then his need for finding his father eventually came back and he deemed that new information unimportant to remember for a while. He honestly hadn’t ever thought about the possibility of meeting anyone from Selena’s mother’s side of the family and he kind of regretted deeming them unimportant to remember, mostly (at least he remembered Juliet!). Anyways, he’ll probably remember everything he learned from Selena, eventually. “Oh, right. Sorry.” He was too tired and too dismayed by his nightmare to care about sounding sincere with his apology. He walked over to the couch and he took a seat beside Juliet, looking down at his hands as he placed his elbows on his legs (he was leaning forward on the couch instead of leaning against it).

        “No harm done,” Juliet responded, still smiling slightly. She kept her eyes locked on Sam, even when he was no longer looking at her (he was currently looking at his hands). When it appeared that he wasn't going to say anything more to her, she spoke further as her smile vanished. She spoke in a slightly more serious tone. “I can tell that something has been bothering you. It’s the reason why you can’t sleep. Least, that’s what I’m assuming. Would you mind telling me what it is or is it too personal to share with someone you’ve only just met?” She wanted to be of some use because she had nothing better to do and Sam was Selena’s friend. However, if he didn’t want to get into details about whatever it was that happened to be bothering him, she was fine with that and she would gladly just keep him company while he was still awake if that is what he wanted instead. Either way, she would be helping, sort of.

        ”It’s not too personal,” Sam stated without thinking, answering with no hesitation. He shook his head seconds later, after he realized what he did. “I mean, it is personal but…” He sighed as he placed his hands into his hair. It was both personal and non-personal, sort of. Dean, Riley, and Selena knew about it, which made it not so personal, but Sam had his secrets about it, which made it personal. Because of those reasons, it was kind of hard to give a straight answer about it.

        Juliet stared at him curiously, a thought crossing her mind. “Is it about your nightmares?” she asked him after a moment of silence. Sam looked towards her at last, his eyes widening just a bit. Juliet half-smiled at him and began explaining. “Selena informed me of them earlier at the barbecue. She never told me what they were about, not entirely. Riley stopped her from revealing anything further because it was for you to tell only and she’s correct about that. It’s your business and your choice if you wish for me to know anything or not.” She frowned as she noticed how displeased Sam became. “I’m sorry that Selena tends to let things fly from her mouth at the worst times,” she apologized on the behalf of Selena. She knew that Selena needed to learn to keep some things private but that was just how Selena tended to be.

        Sam released another sigh as he shook his head, looking away from Juliet again, temporarily. “Nah, it’s fine. I should’ve known she’d let that slip.” He looked down at his hands again (his hands no longer in his hair) before he looked back over at Juliet. He didn’t know what compelled him to do it but he decided to talk about his nightmares, somewhat. It was more like he decided to talk about what had happened, only slightly. “...My girlfriend burned to death because of me. I wasn’t there to protect her. I wasn’t there to prevent it from happening. I can’t stop thinking about it. It won’t make up for it but I will find the thing that killed her and end it so that no one else suffers.” That was his purpose right now, finding and killing the creature that ruined everything for him. He needed to avenge Jess and he’ll do that someday, he hoped. Although, perhaps his first priority was finding his father because he was certain that his father was still searching for the thing himself since the creature had also killed his mother.

        Juliet nodded slightly, her eyes remaining on Sam. She half-smiled again, raising her hand to move some of her hair from her face before placing her hand back on her lap. “Sounds to me like you really love this woman. I’m sure she’s in a much better place now. No one with a kind heart suffers for eternity after death. I’m certain of this.” She gestured towards the ceiling, though she was making emphasis to what laid beyond it. “She’s in Heaven with your mother,” she stated as Sam glanced upwards, as Juliet gestured. He looked back towards her when she mentioned his mother, a confused expression on his face. Juliet rubbed the back of her head. “Yeah, about that. Selena informed me of that as well.” In response, Sam threw his arms out slightly and shook his head while rolling his eyes, his confused expression become an annoyed one. “Yeah, she doesn’t exactly know how to keep things entirely quiet. She’s not all knowing, after all. Mostly just naive and innocent. Mostly kind and her heart is rather large, so full of life and spirit. That’s her biggest weakness, sadly. She’s so open to everything. It’s truly a mystery how she has managed to remain so innocent thus far, despite her having become a hunter. One would think she’d be corrupted greatly by now.” If only she knew that Selena had become corrupted (by the very slightest), thanks to the entity called The Doppelganger that resided deep within her.

        Sam nodded as he looked back towards her once more. He released yet another sigh. “Yeah, she’s not fazed by much.” He was kind of annoyed with Selena for her having revealed so much that he would had rather been a secret to strangers but it was whatever. He couldn’t change anything about that. Additionally, he could agree with a lot of things that Juliet was saying. Selena was very innocent and kind hearted, and she really didn’t seem too fazed about most things. Well, at least, she didn’t seem to show it if she actually was fazed by some matters. He knew that the whole out-of-control incident had gotten to her and that the shapeshifter incident had caused some nightmares to stir up within her but other than that, he didn’t believe anything else had fazed her. He didn’t know that he was wrong since he was unaware of The Doppelganger as well.

        Juliet smiled a little bit as she looked away from Sam finally. “I suppose not. She usually expects things to happen.” She began to frown suddenly as she thought back to what caused Riley and Selena to enter this new life. “Apart from what happened to Riley’s family. She cried over their deaths for quite some time before she accepted it. My mother was so heartless about it.” She shook her head and rolled her eyes as she recalled everything. “Mother is the biggest bitch of them all, forbidding Selena to ever come back home. But she'll change her mind, for all the wrong reasons and it'll happen soon enough.” She looked back over at Sam and noted the confusion that returned on his face. She began to explain, figuring that it was only fair to reveal this information to him so that nothing would come as a surprise if Rebecca Grant, the mother of herself and Selena, suddenly came looking for Selena in the future. “Mother wishes for a new generation of Immortal Beings. I won't give her that because I don't wish for mating with someone I don't love and she can't force me into it because fighting amongst the family normally results in unnecessary drama and violence that never solves anything. With Selena, she'd have better chances of getting what she wants, even if the new generation is full of hybrids, because Selena isn't one to say no very often to her. The only time Selena refused to accept what Mother said was towards anything regarding Riley and her side of the family, and anything to do with the life of a hunter, which was why Mother told her to never return home in the first place. I thought you’d like to know all of that, in case she came looking for Selena someday.”

        Sam frowned. “That won’t happen.” He wish he could say that about the possibility of Rebecca showing up but he was mostly referring to Selena possibly being taken advantage of. He didn’t like the thought of that, of Selena being forced to mate with someone just because her mother instructed her to. He couldn’t see Selena saying yes willingly, if Rebecca were to show up, because he knew her well enough to know that she didn’t want to be tied down to someone. He could only see her saying yes if she or someone were threatened and if it came down to that happening, Sam wasn’t sure if he, Dean, and Riley could be able to do anything about it. He really wished that Juliet hadn’t mentioned this but he was also glad that she gave him a head’s up. He’d have to inform Dean and Riley about that later on or whenever he got the chance.

        “Maybe,” Juliet responded as she shrugged. “I believe you should get some rest, Sam Winchester. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow.” She waved her hand, shooing him before he could even open his mouth to respond and he raised an eyebrow at her in tired amusement. “Go on,” Juliet said as she smiled at him. “Nightmares can only keep you awake for so long before they begin to be ineffective. I can’t say I know from experience but I’ve heard such from humans. So, try to get some sleep, night owl.” Sam stared at her for a moment before he nodded, slowly standing up with a hint of a smile on his face. Wishing her a good night even though she couldn’t sleep, Sam began to head back to the bedroom he was staying in. Juliet really wasn’t all that bad after all…

**~** **(Approx) Between March 20th-28th, 2006; Oklahoma** **~**

        That next morning, Dean went off to shower while Juliet, Riley, Sam, and Selena silently hanged out in the living room, the four of them waiting for some sort of anything that would give them something to do that morning. No small talk was made as they waited because research required focus and sometimes silence, Selena being on a laptop to see if any information could be found online (she didn’t find anything). Not too long after Dean had gone off to shower, a police call came in through the scanner. After Sam went off to inform Dean of the news and after Dean had gotten dressed again, the five of them headed off to the scene of the crime in their two separate vehicles (Juliet left her car behind and had joined the Grant-Piers siblings in the Audi).

        When the two vehicles pulled up by the home of Lynda Bloome, a body bag (with Lynda’s corpse inside) was being lifted from a stretcher and it was being placed into a vehicle by some men. A few police cruisers were parked along the sidewalk and Dean parked the Impala behind one of them while Riley parked the Audi behind the Impala. Dean and Sam exited the Impala, pulling out and opening up two umbrellas, rain pouring down from the cloudy sky. Juliet, Riley, and Selena stepped out of the Audi (which finally had a working electric roof this time so no more plastic pool covers over the vehicle on rainy days and no more of the seats getting rained on), none of them opening up umbrellas because none of them had one. Grouping up together, Sam silently gestured for Selena to get underneath the umbrella with him but she shook her head with a smile on her face, happy with getting rained on. Sam, then, gestured for Juliet to do such and unlike Selena, she accepted and she got underneath the umbrella with him, saying a quiet thank you to him which he returned with a nod and a small smile. Dean rolled his eyes at this little kind gesture but found himself eyeing Riley for a moment as the five of them began to head over to Larry. As they slowly approached the older man, Dean moved to walk beside Riley, getting her underneath the umbrella with him and he found himself smiling when Riley looked at him with a smile on her face.

        When the five of them reached Larry, he spoke to them with hesitation and he revealed to them that Lynda had passed away. Unable to give them an answer when asked how Lynda had died, he excused himself from the conversation and he walked away from them, heading towards the building and towards the officer that gestured him over. Immediately after Larry was out of hearing range, the five agreed that they needed to get inside the house to see if it was another bug related death. A short time later when the five had maneuvered themselves out of sight and when the police cruisers had began to leave the area, the five began to climb over a fence, up the side of the house, and through Lynda’s bedroom window. The bedroom was rather small in size so it was a bit crowded with the five of them standing in it; Dean had stepped over the outline of Lynda’s dead body that was drawn on the carpet to make some room for the females to get inside and Sam helped each of the females through the window before closing it behind them, each of the females moving away from the window to make more room inside the small bedroom.

        Juliet, Riley, and Selena grouped up around the body outline while Dean and Sam stepped to be at the bathroom door. It probably hadn’t been the best idea for Selena to have refused shelter from the rain earlier because now, she was very close to being completely soaked from the rainfall while everyone else remained nearly completely dry (all of them got a little wet when climbing to the bedroom since they couldn’t exactly carrying umbrellas with them). What made that a bad decision was because a puddle was being made underneath Selena from the water that was dropping from her jacket, shoes, and hair but that probably wasn’t gonna cause any worries for them since if anyone came back, they’d probably just think there was a leak that needed to be patched up or something. If anything, they’d only need to worry about Selena getting a nasty cold. As the three females silently stood around watching Dean and Sam, the two Winchester brothers in question were semi-entering the bathroom together; Dean entered while Sam remained just outside the doorway.

        Dean crouched down beside a white towel that laid on the floor and he picked it up, dropping it after several dead spiders dropped onto the glass and blood covered floor. Ignoring the loud squeal that came from Riley, he released a sigh and shook his head. “Spiders.” He turned his head to look at Sam but Sam wasn’t eyeing him or the dead spiders, his attention on Riley. Because of this, Dean looked over at Riley instinctively and he smirked at the sight of Riley jumping around, her hands roaming over her body frantically as if she were trying to brush something off of her. Juliet and Selena stood nearby her, Juliet holding back a laugh while Selena was shaking her head and rolling her eyes. “Somebody’s jumpy,” Dean commented as he watched Riley, clearly amused by her distress. The gentleman within himself had become dormant after the little gesture of kindness, which explained why he was being like this now.

        Riley managed to glare at Dean as she trembled in anxiety, still swatting at her arms. Once she was no longer frantically rubbing her body down, she let out a huff of breath as she attempted to calm down further. “I can’t stand spiders. They’re gross, ugly, occasionally hairy, and overall deadly,” she stated as she glanced downwards to the dead spiders that laid on the bathroom floor. Even though the spiders were dead and the spiders were across the room from her, she was still anxious about a spider suddenly crawling on her. She twisted her ring anxiously. “Why couldn’t it had been ladybugs or butterflies? Spiders are a big fat nope for me.” She looked away from the spider corpses and she looked elsewhere, looking for any signs of living spiders as she grew more anxious, twisting her ring more furiously. “You ain’t about to see me getting anywhere near that bathroom. No siree. Keep them demon spawns away from my person and we’ll be peachy keen.”

        Sam shook his head slightly, amused. "Riley, they're dead. You have nothing to worry about." He shouldn't be so amused by this because he had fears of his own (which he wasn’t planning on revealing any time soon) but he couldn't help himself. The way Riley had been jumping around was hilarious and her patting herself down topped it all off. Actually, her comments on spiders may had been what topped it all off. He didn't release out a chuckle, though, despite how funny he thought it was. At the very least, it had made him start smiling.

        Juliet was struggling to hold in her giggles and she released them as she spoke, revealing that she wasn’t always so level-headed. “Yeah, Riley. You’re completely safe. They’re very dead.” She hadn’t laughed, or even giggled, in a very long time and the fact that she was doing such now meant something. She enjoyed the company of others, especially Riley and Selena. Plus, she was kind of the reason why Riley flipped out. She may or may not had slightly touched Riley’s bare hand when the dead spiders were uncovered, which may or may not had caused Riley to think that something was crawling on her. It definitely had been an accident, though, and a very lovely accident at that. Perhaps this hunting thing wouldn’t be as bad as she thought it would be.

        Riley frowned as she eyed the floor, the walls, and the ceiling. “Well, I don’t feel like I’m safe. I feel like I’ll be attacked at any moment.” Hearing Dean and Sam snort, she looked over at them quickly and she glared at the both of them. She completely dismissed Juliet’s own laughter, however, for some reason. “Oh, shut up, Winchesters. I look forward to the day where I can make fun of your fears.” Riley could’ve made fun of Dean that one time but she didn’t like heights, which was similar to his fear of flying, so she couldn’t really say anything negative to him about it. Only good thing about that fear of theirs, the two of them had clinged to each other for dear life when the plane was beginning to go down because of that one demon (and thankfully, Sam and Selena had saved everyone’s life with their teamwork). Riley wouldn’t mind having another one of those moments, as long as they both survived at the end like that last time (referring to the phantom plane incident still). With Sam, she still didn’t know what his fear was but she’d find out eventually. Probably. She hoped it was something she could make fun of.

        “Where could the spiders have come from?” Selena asked as she shifted slightly, stepping out of the small puddle of water she created accidentally (it was the rain’s fault, technically, and not her own, though she did refuse to use an umbrella). She looked around the bedroom, her eyes focusing on the corners of the walls. “I can’t seem to find any cobwebs that they could have come from.” If there were spiders, there usually were cobwebs that came with them. However, these spiders seem to have come out of nowhere and from what it looked like, the spiders had died from something unknown to them; the spiders seemed to had magically appeared since there were no webs in sight and the spiders apparently dropped dead the minute Lynda died. It would had been nice if one had lived, then they would have tested it or something. They could’ve had some sort of living lead for this case. Only real lead they had right now were the bugs that kept turning up dead at the scenes of the crimes, so at least they knew that bugs were involved for some reason.

        ”I don’t know,” Dean answered. He looked over at Sam. “From Spider Boy?” he suggested. Sam had encountered Matt, Larry’s son, at the barbecue and the young boy had been trying to prank Lynda with a spider, Lynda now being dead because of a group of spiders. Either this was just a mere coincidence and Matt had absolutely nothing to do with this or Matt had everything to do with this death. Either way, they had some sort of lead now that happened to be living.

        Sam sounded angry when he corrected Dean and it caused the three females to eye him curiously. “Matt.” He barely knew the boy but apparently, he didn’t like how Dean called him Spider Boy. He was certain that it was just a coincidence but since Matt was their only living lead right now, he had to accept the possibility of Matt maybe being involved somehow. “Maybe,” he sighed. He didn’t like the thought of that but it was a tad odd that he seemed indifferent when normally, he (probably) would’ve immediately agreed with Dean without any anger in his tone. Very likely, the Winchester brothers would be having some sort of falling out in the very near future.

        The five of them didn’t remain inside the building for long after that, exiting the way they had came. Getting into their separate vehicles, the Winchesters and the Grant-Piers siblings headed off. Beginning to leave the well-made neighborhood, the five of them drove to the end of the street where some construction was being had. Parking their vehicles at a curb, they watched as Matt exited a bus from across the street (coincidentally, his bus just happened to arrive there just as the Impala and Audi were pulling up to the curb and conveniently, the Winchesters and Grant-Piers siblings had been searching for his whereabouts). Dean and Sam (and Juliet, Riley, and Selena also) noticed that instead of heading to his home, Matt began to head towards the woods that were across the street from where he had been dropped off and obviously, the Winchesters and the Grant-Piers siblings had to follow behind him to see what he was up to. A lead was a lead for a reason.

        A few feet behind the young boy, the five of them found Matt standing by a low tree branch. He was making a grasshopper climb onto his hand after he placed his left hand in its path. In his right hand, he was holding a semi-large white box that he was most likely going to place the insect within. He had a large smile on his face, showing how much he seemed to love these bugs that most people disliked greatly. He was close to placing the grasshopper into the box but he stopped when he heard Sam’s voice, his attention turning to the five as the grasshopper moved up his jacket arm. “Hey, Matt,” Sam greeted softly as he, Dean, Juliet, Riley, and Selena approached Matt, the five of them stopping as soon as they were near the surprised boy. “Remember me?” he asked. Sam couldn’t exactly say ‘us’ instead of ‘me’ because Juliet, Riley, and Selena hadn’t been close by when Sam encountered Matt and Dean didn’t exactly get introduced to the boy because Larry had pulled Matt away from them.

        “What are you doin’ out here?” Matt asked as he eyed the five of them cautiously. He was shocked to see them out there with him because he had thought he was alone. In fact, seeing so many strangers in front of him kind of terrified him for various obvious reasons. One, they could kill him if they wanted to, two, he had to be cautious either way because they were strangers, and three, they _really_ could kill him if they _really_ wanted to.

        “Well, we wanna talk to you,” Dean told him, standing in between Sam (who was to his right) and Riley (who was to his left). To Riley’s left, Selena was standing around as they all were but she wasn’t exactly being still since she was twisting her body side-to-side ever so slightly and she rubbed her nose a bit, holding back a sneeze that was coming and going. To Sam’s right, Juliet was trying not to stand too still as she too often shifted on her feet.

        Matt glanced between Sam and Dean, eyeing the girls quickly afterwards before he looked back towards Sam and Dean. “You’re not here to buy a house, are you?” he asked. Dean shook his head, staring the boy down. Matt’s smile faded as he went into a slight panic. He raised his left hand, doing this in case he needed to defend himself from them, even though he definitely would’ve lost if they had, indeed, been thinking about harming him. “W-Wait, you’re not serial killers, are you?” he questioned in his panic, hand still raised in self defense. Even if they had been serial killers, they definitely wouldn’t be letting him know if he was correct or not cause he’d just be dead. Sam chuckled, a smile forming on his face as Dean cracked a smile at the kid. Selena frowned at this assumption, Juliet let out a scoff, and Riley rolled her eyes as she tried not to smile.

        Riley shook her head and Matt appeared to become relieved. “Nah, not them.” Matt’s eyes widened as his attention turned to her fully. She gestured to herself as she continued. “I am, though. They just follow my every move, doing whatever I ask them to. They’re more on the lines of stalkers than serial killers, which the latter I am.” Dean let out a snort as his smile slightly grew wider. Selena looked towards Riley with disapproval written all over her face. Juliet was rolling her eyes and smiling. Sam chuckled more, shaking his head at Riley as he turned his head to look in her direction. She caught him staring at her and she stuck her tongue out at him before she spoke again. “Well, you weren’t about to just play along so I went for it. Loser.” By this point, Matt knew she was joking around and he was half smiling.

        Selena continued to frown at Riley. “You should not joke about that, Riley,” she stated as Riley looked towards her. “You could had frightened him terribly.” Riley scoffed and shrugged, dismissing Selena’s words. Matt didn’t appear to be frightened to her so it didn’t matter. Selena let out a low sigh as she shook her head, frowning still.

        Sam shook his head at all of this amusing nonsense, turning his attention back towards Matt. “I think you’re safe,” he informed the young boy. Matt nodded slightly in acknowledgement as Matt looked at Sam. “Keep an eye out for Riley, though. I think she’s plotting something,” Sam joked, turning his head back towards Riley as he continued to smile. Riley looked over at Sam again and she glared playfully at him. So now, he had wanted to play along. How dare he.

        Juliet let out a giggle as she nodded in agreement, going along with what Sam said. “Yeah, keep an eye on her. She’s a schemer.” Riley glared playfully at her next but Juliet just continued giggling and smiling. She seriously hadn’t thought that hunting would be this amusing. She thought hunting was just dangerous and that hunters had to be constantly cautious but from what she was witnessing, hunting could apparently be fun when one was around the right people. If this was how it always was like, she was glad that Riley and Selena had chose this life but she hoped that when the danger showed up, it wasn’t as bad as she always thought it was. Although, clearly, it wasn’t so bad since Dean, Riley, Sam, and Selena all were still breathing.

        Dean rolled his eyes, his smile fading as Juliet joined in on the fun. She may look like Selena but she wasn’t her at all and Dean had no reason to trust her like he trusted Selena, even if Riley and Selena trusted Juliet. Sam even seemed to trust Juliet or he, at least, trusted her enough to have her near him. Dean definitely didn’t like that at all and he refused to trust Juliet. How could he trust her? She inserted herself into their investigation and she forced her way into conversations that Dean tried to avoid continuing, but apparently, everyone seemed to love her except for him. He avoided looking towards Juliet’s direction since she had spoken last, keeping his eyes on Matt the entire time. “So, Matt, you sure know a lot about insects,” he began. Matt responded with ‘so’ as he shrugged, his attention on Dean in return. “Did you hear what happened to Lynda, the realtor?” Dean asked him, raising an eyebrow. Matt revealed that he only knew about her dying and Dean nodded. “Mm, that’s right,” he told Matt. “Spider bites,” he continued, whispering in an accusing way. Dean certainly was no longer in the mood for playing around.

        Sam and Selena both looked towards Dean disapprovingly before they both looked at Matt. Dean, Juliet, and Riley were already looking at Matt, waiting for either a confession or some sort of defense. “Matt, you tried to scare her with a spider,” Sam pointed out. He tried not to sound like he was accusing Matt of murder but his choice of words made him sound like he was and that seemed to cause Matt to be a little offended, naturally.

        “Wait, you think I had something to do with that?” Matt questioned all of them.

        “I do not believe that you did,” Selena immediately stated, her frown having remained on her face. She didn’t believe that he had done anything. Clearly, this had only been a mere coincidence and perhaps this coincidence would lead them to the actual culprit of this investigation. She constantly tried to come up with what could possibly be causing this but no monster, that she knew of, crossed her mind. She was beginning to believe that this had nothing to do with creatures. Perhaps this had more to do with something entirely different than what she, Riley, and (perhaps) the others were used to.

        “Well, of course _you_ don’t, Selena,” Riley stated as she gestured at Selena, her attention towards her temporarily. “You find most people to be innocent, even when they aren’t exactly innocent.” A good example of that would be with the shapeshifter but Riley couldn’t bring that up in front of Matt because then, all of them would look crazy. There had been other times where Selena believed there was some innocence inside a few other creatures that could speak English but those moments ended badly as well and Riley couldn’t mention those moments in front of Matt either. Hell, she probably shouldn’t ever mention most of those moments to Juliet.

        Juliet stepped forward once, moving closer to Matt. No one seemed to notice how Dean tensed up when she did this and no one noticed how he reached for his weapon that was hidden. Before anyone could even bother noticing what Dean was doing, Dean dropped his hand hesitatingly when Juliet started speaking to Matt. “Ignore them,” she said as she gestured towards Riley and Selena. What they were saying wasn’t exactly important. “Were you apart of it or not, Matt?” she asked, her tone serious.

        Matt shook his head as he stared at all of them, looking back and forth between the five of them as he defended himself. “That tarantula was a joke,” he stated firmly. “Anyway, that wouldn’t explain the bee attack or the gas company guy.” That statement caused all five of them to look at him strangely because they didn’t think he’d know about those other two deaths. “There is something going on here. I don’t know what but something’s happening with the insects. Let me show you something.” Matt picked up his backpack that he had placed onto the ground earlier and he began to walk further into the woods. With no other choice, the five followed behind him and only Riley was reluctant about it.

        As the six of them strolled through the woods together, Matt placed his new pet grasshopper into the box he had before placing the box into his backpack. Continuing onward with their little journey, Sam moved to be walking beside Matt and he began to ask the young boy questions, ones that concerned Larry (Matt’s father). Behind the two of them, Dean and Riley followed close behind while Selena and Juliet were close behind them. When Matt shared with everyone that Larry was, apparently, disappointed in him, Sam’s relatable comment annoyed Dean visibly. After learning that Matt was sixteen, Sam decided to give him some advice of sorts. “Well, don’t sweat it because in two years, something great’s gonna happen. College. You’ll be able to get out of that house and away from your dad.” It’s what happened with him after all of the disagreements he had with his own father. He wanted to break away from this life and he did just that. However, he hadn’t planned on reentering this life and yet, here he was, stuck with this same old bullshit again but probably for the rest of his life.

        “What kind of advice is that?” Dean questioned. “Kid should stick with his family.” He clearly had a different view of this kind of thing, considering he lived through something just like it and he hadn’t really agreed with it then either. Juliet, Riley, and Selena could practically feel Dean’s annoyance, despite that they could hear the annoyance in his tone when he had spoken. Although none of the girls knew what was going on with the two brothers (Juliet definitely didn’t know because she just showed up the day before and Riley, and Selena, didn’t know too much about the brothers to begin with, other than the need-to-know stuff), none of them wanted to hear an argument commence between the two idiotic men.

        When Sam paused his walking to glare at Dean and when everyone else stopped walking because of that, Riley rolled her eyes and she began speaking to both brothers, annoyed with them both already. She may not know what exactly their back-and-forth thing was about but she knew that they must’ve dealt with something like this before. Behind her, Juliet and Selena listened quietly. “The kid should do whatever the fuck he wants to do, whether it’s in two years or right fucking now,” she commented, interrupting the glaring war that probably would’ve became an argument that she didn’t care to hear. “So, both of you morons shut the fuck up already. None of us want to hear any of your bullshit advice because it ain’t all about you and what you did during a situation like this. Do your brotherly arguing elsewhere, when you’re alone.” She looked towards Matt, seeing confusion on his face but she ignored that. “How much further?” she asked him impatiently. He opened his mouth to answer but she interrupted him. “Great. Fantastic. Keep moving forward. The sooner you show us, the better.” She wanted to flip her shit, further than she already had. When Matt began moving forward again (out of slight fear) after he looked away from everyone, Riley quickly glared at Dean and Sam before she pushed by Sam, walking behind Matt. Dean, Sam, Juliet, and Selena followed silently behind her.

        A few minutes later, the six of them reached a large forest clearing. The many sounds of hundreds of different insects could be heard amongst the trees that surrounded them. Riley appeared to be already calming down from her little random rage fit and Selena was moving to stand beside her when all of them stopped walking. Her head clear, Riley tensed up when she finally realized that a lot of insects were in the area that they were standing in and she immediately grasped onto Selena’s arm since Selena was the closest to her. Sam, Dean, Juliet, and Matt remained standing where they were. Altogether, they were looking around at the trees, seeing nothing but hearing everything. “I’ve been keeping track of insect populations,” Matt began to explain. “It’s, um, part of an A.P. science class. A lot has been happening. I mean, from bees to earthworms, beetles, you name it. It’s like they’re congregating here.”

        “Why?” Dean questioned as he eyed Matt. Matt just shrugged, not knowing what to say since he didn’t know much more than what he told them.

        “What’s that?” Sam asked, pointing towards a dark patch of grass that laid a few feet away from the six of them. After spending a moment of looking at one another, Dean walked by everyone and lead the way to the patch of land that Sam spotted. As they say, curiosity killed the cat.

        Upon reaching the area, the six of them discovered hundreds of worms and Riley let out a noise of disgust at the sight (Juliet, Selena, Dean, Sam, and Matt didn’t have a problem with the worms, not a visible one anyways). Dean stepped forward, placing his right foot against some of the worms and the worms fell into the ground, creating a small hole that was big enough for a hand to go through. Sharing a look with Sam, Dean picked up a stick and he crouched down beside the hole, poking the stick inside. When he continued poking the stick into the hole, the ground within it suddenly felt hard and he paused, looking back towards everyone that was watching. “There’s something down there.” He pulled the stick out of the hole and he placed it on the ground. Before he made a move to stick his hand down the hole this time, he looked at Riley. He didn’t know why he wanted to warn her but it was likely because of her little fear of bugs and probably just because of that. “Riley, you might not want to continue looking,” he warned her, half-smirking. Why she was watching him the entire time was beyond him since she was suppose to be scared of bugs.

        Riley looked at Dean, horrified as she held onto Selena tighter. “Don’t tell me that you’re about to stick your hand in there.” Dean tilted his head to the side rather quickly as he continued half-smirking, giving her the answer she didn’t want to know. “Oh, God. Why, Dean? Can’t you just go find something to get whatever it is out?” she begged. Dean smirked fully at her and shook his head before he looked away from her. He placed his hand into the hole, causing Riley to release a loud squeal. “God, he did it! I’m gonna puke!” Riley exclaimed before she covered her mouth, keeping her eyes away from what was happening. Even Dean had a disgusted expression on his face but this had to be done. He felt around the hole for nearly half a minute before he finally felt something hard against his palm. Gripping onto whatever it was, he began to pull it out of the hole and everyone who had their eyes on the object looked a bit, or maybe more than a bit, horrified. Covered in dirt and worms, a human skull was within Dean’s right hand. “D-Did you get it out?” Riley questioned, not daring to look. “Somebody answer me, damn it.” No one answered, everyone staring at the skull that they hadn’t been expecting to find. Growing impatient, Riley glanced over and she immediately looked away. “Nope!” She regretted looking. Fucking curiosity.

        Dean removed himself from a crouched position and he looked over at Riley, a smirk on his face. “You alright, Riley?” he asked, even though he knew the answer already. Her reactions to all of this was making this not so bad. In fact, Dean was willing to procrastinate just so he could terrify her more. He was certain that there were some more bones in that hole but he’d much rather mess with Riley right this second before he had to go digging through that shit again.

        Riley let out a growl as she turned towards Dean. She refused to glance towards the skull in his hand. “Do I fucking look alright, you bow-legged son of an asshole?! Goddamn it, Dean! Fucking use gloves next time! I hope you wash those hands before you eat!” Dean began to approach her with a smirk still on his face, raising the skull in his hand. A few of the worms on it fell off but some still remained. Riley immediately pulled Selena in front of her, placing herself behind her younger sister to protect herself from some worms on a human skull. “Hell no! Nope! Stay the fuck away from me with that hand!” Dean stepped closer, on the verge of laughing. Sure, he was holding a human skull in his hand and that was very disgusting in itself but his mind was on something entirely different at the moment. “Back off! I’m not afraid to hurt you, Dean Winchester! This ain’t the time to be playing around!” Riley yelled. Dean started laughing finally before he backed off. Sam managed to crack a smile as he watched and Juliet shook her head, smiling. Selena just rolled her eyes at their immaturity and Matt looked confused as to why Dean was playing around with a fucking human skull. Everyone definitely needed to get their priorities straight, except for Selena…

**~** **(Approx) Between March 20th-28th, 2006; Oklahoma** **~ (A/N: Action Mostly)**

        Dean, Riley, Sam, Selena, and Juliet headed off to the Department of Anthropology after multiple more human skulls were dug up from the ground by Dean. Riley and Juliet had remained in the Audi while Dean, Sam, and Selena had taken the bones inside. However, before that had occurred, Dean and Sam got into a discussion about their father, about what had happened before Sam had left for college and it had been quite an emotional discussion. Selena wasn’t a part of that discussion, however, because she had moved ahead to give the two privacy once said discussion had begun; Dean and Sam would likely inform her of some things later, if they deemed it important for her to know. After that private brotherly moment, the three of them (that being the brothers with Selena) learned a little bit of information inside from a professor but not enough for them to know what the fuck was going on in Oasis Plains. Thankfully, the professor informed them of someone who could probably help them and the three of them were soon heading back outside.

        In two separate vehicles again, the five headed to Sapulpa where a number of Native Americans lived. Getting some directions, the five of them soon found themselves at a small diner. This time around, only Riley went inside with the Winchester brothers to get some information, Selena staying in the car with Juliet. Dean, Riley, and Sam approached a Native American man within the diner, the man’s name being Joe Whitetree. Dean had spoken a lie to the man almost immediately and Joe called him out on it immediately afterwards, not wanting to hear anything from him which amused Riley quite a bit while it annoyed Dean a lot. Joe listened to what Sam had to say and he ended up informing the three of them of something his grandfather had told him, a story that was passed on from generation after generation. The gist of it was that the cavalry (the White Persons or American cavalry) forced the Natives to choose between moving locations or suffering by murdering and raping a number of the Natives each time they visited, doing such for six nights until every Native was either gone (via moving like the White Persons wanted) or deceased (via the deaths the White Persons were causing each night) and as the chief of the village laid dying, he whispered a curse about how no White Persons would ever step foot on those lands again unless they wished to endure what he and his people had endured those six nights, but through the power of nature (a.k.a. the bugs). After thanking Joe and exiting the diner, the three quickly came to the conclusion that the curse was ending that night (until the next time someone showed up there, anyways) and that Larry’s family would be dead by sunrise if they didn’t do anything about it soon. The three of them raced to their vehicles, getting within them before driving off (Selena and Juliet were informed of the situation by Riley on the ride back to Oasis Plains).

        The sky was beginning to darken and neither of their vehicles were anywhere close to Oasis Plains. Dean called Larry in an attempt to get the man and his family out of the house but Larry quickly caught him in a lie, which caused Dean to panic and he hung up on Larry before banging his hand against the steering wheel as he drove faster (he tended to fail at lying when under pressure). Sam took the phone from Dean and he dialed Matt’s number, getting Matt on the line. While telling Matt to get his family out of the house, Sam additionally told Matt to tell his family the truth about the situation. However, Dean took the phone back and told Matt that he needed to lie to get his family out of the house, telling him that he’d sound crazy if he told the truth and Matt agreed to do this before Dean hung up on him. In the Audi behind the Impala, the three Grant-Piers siblings were forming a plan of defense, just in case things went south when they got to Oasis Plains.

        Expectedly, when the two vehicles finally pulled up in front of Larry’s home, Larry and his family were still within the house. As the five of them (Dean, Sam, Selena, Riley, and Juliet) exited their vehicles, Larry stormed out of his home and he began threatening to call the police on them, having heard the truth from Matt (although, he didn’t believe a single word of it). Dean and Sam attempted to get Larry to listen to them about leaving while Riley, Selena, and Juliet eyed their surroundings, all three of them ready to spring into any sort of action but Riley, however, did appear to be reluctant to do so for about a minute. Matt had ended up stepping onto the porch and he was attempting to help the Winchesters with convincing Larry that they needed to leave but Larry continued to ignore their claims and basically called them all crazy. Eventually, enough was enough and Sam practically exploded in rage, trying one last time to convince Larry to get his family and leave. However, it was far too late for that. Coming from somewhere nearby, a very loud buzzing noise could be heard by all of them and it continued to grow louder as everyone tried to pinpoint where it was coming from. When the fluorescent bug light on the porch began to overheat from killing several bugs at a time, Larry finally seemed to believe everything that Matt and the Winchesters had been trying to tell him but it truly was far too late for them to leave because, as Matt points out, a million bugs (of various types) were beginning to fly towards that very house, blanketing the moonlit sky.

        Upon seeing the millions of insects that were heading their way, Dean directed everyone to run inside the house. Larry and Matt entered their home first, the both of them having been on the porch already. Juliet pushed Riley and Selena in front of her, making the two of them run ahead of her; sure, the three of them had powers and they could hold back these insects but Juliet wasn’t about to risk causing the lives of Riley and Selena to end just to save a few innocent people and some hunters she just met. Before Dean and Sam made a move to run inside, both of them made sure that Selena and Riley had gotten inside before them. While Dean ran inside without a care about Juliet since she couldn’t exactly die easily, Sam hesitated to run in before her but Juliet ushered him inside, moving closely behind him. Dean, waiting at the door, slammed it shut once everyone was within the household and he locked the door. Although, locking the door probably wouldn’t do much good for too long since there were many ways for cursed insects to enter a house.

        Temporarily safe within the house, Sam asked Larry if there was anyone else in the neighborhood. Thankfully, only the Pike family were the ones living there right now. Joanie, Larry’s wife and Matt’s mother, entered the room and she was clearly confused by what was going on because she hadn’t been outside to see the swarm of insects. Instead of Larry telling his wife about what was happening when she asked about the noise she was hearing, he insisted that she’d go call 911. This ridiculous suggestion caused Riley to turn towards the man and she glared at him as she began to yell. “Call 911?! What the hell are they gonna do?! Shoot the bugs outta the sky?! Hose them down?! Give them a stern talking to?!” Riley let out a grunt of aggravation as Larry ignored her, him telling his wife to go and call 911 a second time. “Fucking hell!” Riley exclaimed as she shook her head. First, she had to eventually help deal with these bugs and she hated fucking bugs. Now, she had to listen to a complete moron suggest that 911 should be called. Lord, have mercy on all of them.

        As Joanie moved to go call 911 as instructed, Juliet looked over at Larry from where she stood (and she happened to be standing near the Winchesters while Riley and Selena were standing near the Pike family). “Exactly what have you been smoking, Sir?” she asked, simply out of curiosity. She wanted to know if this man was really stupid or if he was on something. She raised her hands up in defense when Larry gave her a dirty look (a glare). Beside her (even though she had originally been behind them upon entering the house), Dean and Sam were looking around everywhere as the two of them listened to the banging sounds that the insects were creating outside the house. Riley continued on fuming as she watched Joanie pick up the phone and Selena was standing near Matt, her hand on his shoulder as she whispered comforts to him. “Hey, I’m just asking,” Juliet defended weakly as she stared at Larry. “Only someone high on something would suggest calling 911 in this sort of scenario.” She greatly agreed with Riley that the 911 suggestion was stupid but clearly, she did nothing to prevent such idiocy from actually occurring (neither Riley nor Juliet stopped the woman from attempting to call 911).

        Dean asked for some towels to seal up the crack underneath the door and any other cracks that were anywhere else. As he did that with Riley’s help, Sam went over to Selena and Matt to instruct them on closing up everything before the three of them headed upstairs together. Joanie placed the phone down, informing everyone that the line was dead so she couldn’t call 911. Larry stood where he was, not sure what to do and Juliet basically did the same thing from where she was standing (currently, she was by Dean and Riley this time). As Riley and Dean were placing a towel underneath the door, the power turned off and Larry went to get his cellphone, attempting to call 911 that way but that was no use either since the insects were blocking the signal by being around the house.

        Sam, Selena, and Matt came back downstairs as millions of bugs began to collect on the doors and windows, covering the entirety of the building. The eight of them, regrouped in the living room, watched as they waited. Matt and Joanie were hugging each other by the staircase. Sam moved to be standing beside Dean and Riley. Selena stood at the foot of the staircase, Juliet moving to be standing behind her. Lastly, Larry moved to be standing in front of his wife and son. After a few minutes, Larry looked away from the insect covered window and he looked towards Dean, Sam, and Riley since they were the closest to him. “So, what do we do now?” he asked them. Surely, there had to be something else they go do to save themselves.

        Sam stared at the window as he answered Larry. “We try to outlast it.” He turned towards his right to see Dean moving around Riley, Dean heading off to another part of the house. Sam and Riley shared a look with each other before they both looked back towards the insect covered window. “Hopefully, the curse will end at sunrise,” Sam continued. That’s all they really could do at this point, just hope that they’d survive the night.

        Selena frowned from where she was located, standing somewhat far behind Sam (and Riley) since she was near the staircase and he (and she) wasn’t exactly near said staircase. “I wish you had said that in a more hopeful manner, Sam,” she told him. The more hope, the better things would turn out. Hopefully. Fingers crossed.

        As the seven of them remained in the living room with their eyes on the window in front of them, Dean was in the kitchen looking for something that could be useful. Looking at the bug covered window that was nearby for a moment, he went over to the sink and began searching the lower cabinets. Quickly, he found a can of bug spray and he headed back towards the living room, closing doors behind him as he went (which probably wouldn’t do much good). When Dean re-entered the living room and he showed everyone his findings, Riley looked at him funny. “Seriously?!” she yelled, throwing her arms out and she nearly hit Sam as she did so. Mumbling an apology to Sam, she glared at Dean. She gestured at the can of bug spray in Dean’s hand. “Bug spray?! That’s your big plan of defense!?” She wished she could use her own plan of defense that she, Juliet, and Selena had come up with but the room was too crowded and they hadn’t been attacked just yet (technically).

        Dean glared back and he gestured at Riley in return. “Well, I don’t see you using your fiery mumbo jumbo!” At least, he was trying to come up with some sort of defense to protect everyone. Riley, she wasn’t doing shit really except for somewhat helping. They’d have nothing to worry about if Riley would just use her powers, along with Selena. With Juliet, Dean didn’t trust her to use her powers for good but if she did indeed end up using them, he hoped she’d use them to save lives instead of costing them.

        “I don’t want to risk hurting anyone!” Riley yelled in defense. All of them were too crowded around. If the bugs were to enter, she couldn’t risk using her power over fire because she could possibly burn someone to a crisp. She’d have to wait until everyone was out of her line of sight or, in other words, she had to wait until everyone was behind her and safe from any possible attack. She seriously didn’t want to risk it. All of them suddenly began to hear a creaking noise. “What the shit was that…?” Riley questioned as she looked away from Dean. Listening closely, everyone found themselves looking towards the fireplace where the creaking was coming from. “Shit…” How could they have missed that?

        “Alright, I think everybody needs to get upstairs,” Dean commented as he eyed the fireplace. Just as the Pike family was maneuvering themselves to be at the foot of the staircase where Juliet and Selena were, hundreds of thousands of bugs came flying into the living room from the fireplace. The bugs swarmed everyone as everyone failed to start getting up the stairs. Juliet, Selena, and Riley couldn’t risk hurting anyone, so their powers were of no use right that moment which made their plan of defense useless right now. Everyone swatted their arms around, trying to protect themselves as the Pike family (and Riley) let out screams. “Riley, get down!” Dean yelled in instruction as he raised the bug spray can that he was holding, a lighter in his other hand. Riley ducked and she rolled out of the way as Dean used the lighter with the bug spray, making it flare up. The flames warded some of the bugs away but not very many. Riley’s fire ability would be useful at that moment but with everyone so crowded together, she still couldn’t risk it. “Everyone upstairs! Now! Go, go, go!” Dean yelled. The Pike family ran behind Dean, the three of them heading up the stairs first before Selena, Riley, and Sam followed behind them. Dean glanced over at Juliet (who remained downstairs with him at the moment) to see her gesturing her hands around, gust of air or perhaps wind forming from these gestures of hers. Seconds later, she placed her hands on either side of her mouth and she blew out a powerful breath, the gusts of wind heading towards the bugs, blowing most of them away from herself and Dean. Immediately afterwards, she gestured for Dean to run upstairs and he did exactly that without hesitation (he still didn’t trust her, though, despite this), Juliet following close behind him.

        With some difficulty, all eight of them entered the attic successfully and Sam closed the door behind them as a few bees managed to get inside but the insects were killed by the flames that Dean sprayed at them with the bug spray and lighter combination flamethrower he made. Not even a minute after the eight of them had entered the attic, sawdust began to fall from the ceiling. The buzzing bees and various other insects were getting louder. The Pike family stood crouched behind the Winchesters and Grant-Piers siblings, the sets of siblings looking up at the hole that was being made in the ceiling. “Oh, for fuck sake!” Riley exclaimed. “Really?! Termites?!” Just their fucking luck. Couldn’t they get a break?

        “Alright, everyone get back!” Dean yelled, again. “Get back, get back, get back!” His main focus right now was getting everyone out of this alive. Somehow. He was prepared to use his makeshift flamethrower until he couldn’t use it anymore. Under his instructions, the Pike family of three moved as far into the corner of the attic as they could. However, Dean didn’t seem to realize that the half-sisters could finally do something about this mess since no one was crowded around in front of them anymore.

        Juliet didn’t look at Riley or Selena as she continued staring up at the hole that the termites were still trying to finish creating. “Riley. Selena. We’ve wasted enough time.” It was now or never and they certainly couldn’t do this never. This was probably the only way to get everyone to survive the night.

        Riley sighed and she groaned but she nodded reluctantly. “Right.” She gripped the collar of the jacket Dean was wearing and she pulled him back, moving to take his place. She glanced at him and she spotted the protest look in his eyes (and on his face). She shrugged as she remained beside Selena. “Sorry but I can’t have you getting fried to a crisp, Dean.” She glanced around until she spotted Sam, watching him move to be by Dean. “Just be ready to patch up the hole when you can. If you can, anyways.” With that, she looked away from them both and she glanced up towards the hole, her being in between Juliet and Selena now since they all moved to be the closest to where the hole would be.

        Without looking back, Selena let out a yell that was meant for the Pike family. ”Many apologies if we frighten you further but we must do this!” She placed her hands together and a white light began to appear around them. The only power that she’d be able to use that could do any sort of harm to these insects was her power over energy. Considering that she couldn’t conduct energy out of thin air, she was using the next best thing: her own limited energy that was deep within. As Selena’s hands glew a brighter white and as Riley’s hands began to form white flames, the termites chewed a hole through the ceiling at last and the bugs began to attempt to swarm around the room. However, a seemingly never-ending blast of white energy erupted from Selena’s palms as she turned them upright towards the hole and in a similar fashion, the same thing appeared to be happening with Riley’s flames, Riley not throwing fireballs this time around. For the bugs that managed to get through both attacks unharmed, Juliet used her gusts of wind and air to keep them away from everyone. As the three females worked together to keep the bugs away, Dean and Sam frantically worked together to patch up the hole in the ceiling without getting themselves caught in the crossfire and they both managed to set up a board over the hole as the females temporarily stopped attacking, Dean immediately placing a long plank of wood underneath the board to hold it in place. However, this solution only lasted about a minute.

        Soon enough, two more holes were chewed open in the ceiling, allowing many more bees to enter the attic where the eight of them were. Because of this, Riley was forced to move away from Juliet and Selena, putting herself very close to one of the new holes and closer to the danger as she began to shoot her flames up and through the hole, killing as many of the bees as she could but a number of bees swarmed around her, stinging her quite a bit but she didn’t stop attacking, not even when her nose began to bleed slightly from how much she was overusing her powers (never had she sent a long lasting blast of fire at something because she usually just threw fireballs). Dean quickly moved over to where she was and he began using his makeshift flamethrower, killing as many bees that were around Riley as he could manage without causing harm to Riley while getting stung quite a bit himself. As this was occurring for the two of them, Juliet and Selena were covering the second newly made hole, Selena blasting energy beams through the hole while Juliet was keeping the bees away from Selena, away from Sam, and away from the Pike family. Despite all of their attempts, the bugs continued on coming through the holes and the first hole that was patched up was broken through, even more bees entering the attic. It was actually rather odd that only bees were attacking them when various other insects had entered the household as well.

        The eight of them were forced into a corner together when Selena began to feel weak from using so much of her own energy to protect everyone (and when the bug spray Dean was using became empty). The Pike family, Sam, Dean, and Selena desperately swatted at the bugs for several minutes while Juliet and Riley attempted to keep as many of the bees at bay as they could, many of the bees dodging the females’ attacks (which is why everyone else was swatting at bees). Conveniently, when all hope seemed lost, the sun finally began to rise again as a new day came to exist and the bugs slowly began to leave through the holes in the ceiling until no more bugs remained in the attic. Confused as to what was happening, the Winchesters and Riley moved to see what was happening while Juliet moved to hold Selena upright, Selena finally losing all of her strength and if it weren’t for Juliet, she would’ve fallen onto the attic floor. As the Winchesters and Riley stared up through one of the holes in the ceiling, they came to realize that the sun was rising and that the curse was over with, everyone soon becoming relieved that they had survived the night with minor injuries…

**~** **(Approx) Between March 20th-28th, 2006; Oklahoma** **~**

        Later on that same day, the Winchesters and the Grant-Piers siblings had dropped by the Pike family house (they had left it earlier that day to go and do something, which was staying inside that one house a little longer because it was a rarity for that to happen for the Winchesters, Selena, and Riley), only to learn that the Pike family was moving out of the area for safety measures due to the curse still being a thing that could reoccur on a later day of a later year. While the Winchester brothers were saying their goodbyes to the Pike family and while Matt was asking Juliet questions about what she (plus Selena and Riley) was, Riley had a private conversation with Selena quickly and Selena appeared to agree with Riley's words despite the frown on her face. After goodbyes were finished and chitchat was done with, the Winchesters and Juliet approached the three vehicles (Juliet had drove back to the Pike house in her own car for obvious reasons) where Riley and Selena were waiting. Selena, looking past the Winchesters and Juliet, waved at Matt and sent a smile his way when he did such towards her, Riley just waving at the boy before she turned her attention towards Dean, Sam, and Juliet again.

        Sam was the first to speak up, starting a conversation by speaking with Juliet. Unlike Dean, Sam liked her and he kind of hoped to see her again sometime in the future. However, he seemed to be forgetting about the warning that Juliet had told him since he had yet told Dean and Riley of it (Selena was already aware of the possibility of Rebecca coming to see her, thanks to her last visit to Juliet) but hopefully, once things really died down, he'd pass on the information (if he remembered it). "Thanks for the help. We appreciate it," he told Juliet, knowing that Dean would never say such a thing to her any time soon. Juliet nodded, smiling at him and he returned the smile. "I suppose you're heading off now, huh? Got better things to do?" That last question was said in a joking sort of tone.

        Juliet smiled more and she rolled her eyes at him. "Yes, I'm heading off and no, I don't have better things to do but I'd rather not stay away from home too long. Two days of fun with you four was enough for me." She continued smiling at Sam and Sam continued smiling back because that's just how he (Sam) was with some people, depending on the person. "And as much as I hate to say it, hunting isn't so bad despite the circumstances that come with it. It's thrilling and dangerous, yet wonderful and amusing. I actually look forward to my future visits." A look of displeasure crossed Dean's facial expression before his expression became blank again; he didn't want Juliet visiting again. Thankfully, Juliet didn't seem to notice that and she looked away from Sam, looking towards Riley and Selena. "However, it wouldn't hurt for you two to come see me from time to time." It was only fair if Riley and Selena returned Juliet's visits but Juliet knew she was just wishing for something that would unlikely occur.

        Riley rolled her eyes as she looked over at Juliet. "Yeah, yeah. We've already told you that we'd try, Jules. You can't expect us to just drop everything and come see ya, though, so hush with the complaining." She heard those words come from Juliet's mouth each time they had seen her, which was months ago and currently. Even though she hadn't heard those words escape Juliet's mouth very often, she already couldn't stand hearing them period. She and Selena would visit whenever it was possible for them to do so. Honestly, at this rate, they'd only visit if there was a case in the Raleigh, North Carolina area.

        Selena nodded in agreement with Riley's words. "Yes, we shall try our hardest to find ways to come and visit you. Really, we will. It is just rather hard to get away from things when so much goes on in the world." Riley and herself were constantly taking on cases with the Winchesters. The biggest case they've had together so far was the one that has yet ended, which was finding John Winchester and finding the unknown creature that had killed, at least, two human beings. Until all of that was settled, it was unlikely that Riley and Selena would visit Juliet any month soon, unless there was a case in the area.

        "I hear you," Juliet told the two half-sisters, understanding shown in her tone. She understood that the two of them were almost constantly busy with saving the day with the Winchesters so she knew she'd have to either be patient or she needed to visit them very often than not. She finally took a glance towards Dean and she glared playfully at him once he finally looked at her in return. Well, she somewhat glared playfully at him, anyways. "You better say more than a few sentences to me next time, asshole, or I'll kick your ass." She still had a smile on her face but her tone sounded serious, like she meant what she said (which was true, to a certain extent). Additionally, she was gonna pretend that she had heard a thank you from him for the extra help that she had gave and for helping him out that one time. Maybe next time, he'd be less of a dick to her. One could only hope, anyways.

      Dean rubbed the back of his head, feeling uncomfortable that Juliet had put him on the spot. Beside him, Sam was laughing a bit. Riley, standing somewhat in front of Dean, was smirking and Selena was just silently listening, watching everyone. "Duly noted," Dean commented quickly, looking over at Sam to glare at him. He definitely wasn't looking forward to seeing Juliet again. So what if she had helped save their asses? That didn't mean he could trust the almost unkillable being. If she were to stick around longer, maybe then he'd be able to trust her but how could he truly trust someone that was hardly ever around? For all he knew, she could be killing people back at her home. If Juliet wasn't a supernatural being and she had been more like Selena (Selena being half supernatural and half human), Dean probably would had been more open to the idea of trusting her.

        Juliet nodded once and she continued on smiling at everyone. She turned towards Selena and Riley again, stepping towards each of them as she gave them both a hug individually. After she was finished with giving them both hugs, she turned towards Sam and approached him with slight hesitation. Automatically, Sam raised his arms and he waited for Juliet to embrace him; he was use to getting hugs from Selena by this point in time so when a hug was offered, he was more than willing to accept said hug. Juliet wrapped her arms around him and he wrapped his arms around her in return. Juliet could almost feel the rush of blush that went into her cheeks when she heard Sam whisper _take care_ to her; she knew that he knew she didn't need any luck or whatever because of her almost inability of dying but the fact that he still told her to take care of herself had somewhat made her blush and she found that to be rather odd. Pulling out of the hug, she turned towards Dean and Dean made a face because he didn't exactly want to hug her. Instead of hugging Dean, Juliet raised her fist and waited for Dean to fist bump her, which he hesitatingly did. After that was all done, she turned towards her left and began stepping towards her vehicle. "Take care, you four. I wish you all luck in your future adventures together," she called back to them as she went. With that, she gave them the peace sign and she got into her car, soon driving off and away from the area. She'd be back eventually to visit the four of them in a different area but when she'd do that was unknown to them all.

        With Juliet gone, Sam looked towards Riley and Selena. "I guess we should be heading off, too, then." There were no more reasons to stay in this area anymore. They had already dealt with the curse, which they didn't break but that's fine since hopefully, Larry Pike would be able to keep people away from this area. Juliet was gone now so that was another reason why they didn't need to stay within the area for much longer. Lastly, they already said their goodbyes; well, he and Dean already said goodbye to the Pike family but it didn't seem like Selena and Riley would be doing the same this time around.

        Dean nodded in agreement with Sam, his eyes on the half-sisters as well. “Yeah. More cases to solve, people to save.” Monsters to slay, curses to semi-avoid, and so on.

        Riley looked down towards her feet, hesitate to speak up before she finally looked back up at the two brothers. "Yeah, but before that, there's something I'd like to be let known." Dean and Sam stared at her only this time, both of them waiting for her to continue. Riley released a sigh and she glanced behind the brothers, semi-watching the Pike family move their belongings into the moving truck. She glanced back towards the brothers a few seconds later. "Well, while you two were saying your little goodbyes to the family behind you, I spoke with Selena and she agrees that perhaps we should part ways." Both Winchesters appeared to be displeased by this statement of hers, neither of them having expected the two to leave their company so soon. Truth be told, Sam and Dean both didn't want the females to leave because they had grown to care about them both. Riley misread their expressions as something different. "We'll still help you with finding the creature and your dad but I think we'd do better if we worked from a distance. Meaning, maybe Selena and I can find something elsewhere because let's face it, us working together with figuring that shit out hasn't been very grand. We found jack shit as a group so perhaps apart, we'll find some sort of...something about either of them." Riley wanted to, at least, try this method out to see if she was correct. Perhaps maybe she and Selena would find some sort of clue, considering they'd be in a different area than the brothers.

        After a moment of silence and thinking, Sam nodded slowly before he spoke his thoughts on what Riley had said. "If that's what you think is best, go for it. If you find something, call us and let us know. We'll do the same for you if we find something. It would be better for us to be together when we take down the...creature, safety in numbers and such." Riley nodded in agreement with him, agreeing that it would be best for all of them to group together when they finally cornered the creature. As much as Sam didn't really want the two to leave, he agreed with Riley's plan. At least, he and Dean would occasionally hear something from the sisters in the future, and they'd see them again once the final battle with the creature occurred, whenever that was.

        Dean appeared to be without a facial expression, his face blank with emotion. He nodded shortly, agreeing with everything despite that he actually didn't really agree with everything. "Yeah, sounds like a plan to me. Couldn't stand seeing your face for much longer, anyways." Despite the blankness in his tone, he had been dryly joking with Riley. Fortunately, Riley knew that he was joking and she slightly shoved him in a playful manner. When she started smiling at him slightly, he smiled back weakly. His emotions didn't remain hidden for long after that as he soon appeared to be displeased with the fact that they'd no longer be hanging out so much. "Just… You know… Be careful. Don't get killed," he told Riley and Selena. This felt too much like a goodbye to him and he didn't like it.

        "Awwwww, somebody's gonna miss us," Riley teased in a sing-song tone, smirking at Dean as she stepped even closer to him.

        "Oh, shut up," Dean told her as he wrapped his arms around her first, giving her a hug that she had intended on giving him first. Riley smiled instead of smirking and she wrapped her arms around him in response, wishing that she didn't have to release him but she knew she had to, for the sake of her sanity; she had another reason for wanting to leave the group they formed. Their hug was broken up after several seconds and Riley stepped away from Dean.

        For the first time since this conversation topic was brought up, Selena began speaking. "We will meet up again eventually so you should not be so sad about this departure." Of course she'd be the one to point out something that Dean didn't want being pointed out, even though it was obvious that he was sad.

        "I'm not sad!" Dean exclaimed, throwing his arms out slightly. Riley and Sam gave him a look, neither of them believing that shit after that little outburst of his. Selena, she just tilted her head to the side as she stared at him. Dean gulped, calmly down quickly to avoid another outburst and he gestured his arms around a bit as he talked. "Displeased, maybe but not sad. This was bound to happen, anyways." Sad, displeased, same difference. He had figured that Riley and Selena would had stayed around until everything was sorted out but clearly, he had been wrong and it kind of upset him. It had been nice hanging out with the sisters while it lasted…

        Selena nodded slightly. "I suppose that is quite true." She stepped forward and she wrapped her arms around Dean once she was close enough to him, giving him a hug before they parted ways. He wrapped his arms around her hesitatingly as Sam and Riley hugged it out beside them. A few seconds into the hug, Selena pulled away and she gave a hug to Sam, giggling when he lifted her up into the air slightly when they hugged each other. Once she was back on her feet, she and Riley both said their goodbyes to the brothers, wishing for them both to be safe and to stay alive. After those goodbyes were said, the half-sisters entered the Audi and soon enough, they were gone and out of sight.

        Once the Grant-Piers half-sisters were gone, Sam enthusiastically stated to Dean that they'd see the females again eventually or least he hoped they would. In a not so enthusiastic response, Dean agreed with Sam. With that said, the two of them approached the Impala and opened the vehicle's doors. However, only Sam got into the vehicle because something caught Dean's eye before he could take a seat. Picking up the folded piece of paper that was sitting in his seat, he sat down inside the Impala and closed the door behind him. Curiosity filling his being, he opened up the folded paper and some money dropped down into his lap. He eyed the money for a moment before he looked at the paper, immediately realizing that it was a note from Riley; Riley must've placed the note in the Impala sometime before she and Selena headed off, most likely doing such while Dean and Sam were saying bye to the Pikes. Dean began to read it silently, feeling Sam's eyes on him and all the note said was that the hustling money rightfully belonged to him (Dean), and that he shouldn't spend it all in one place. Additionally, the note also said that she'd miss him a lot. Folding the paper back up and placing it (and the money) into his jacket pocket, he ignored Sam's questioning as he started up the Impala and he drove away from the area. Damn it, he was gonna miss Selena and Riley something awful… Son of a bitch…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Trivia":
> 
> 1) Definitely enjoyed that one moment I made between Sam and Juliet. Maybe Sam was slightly out of character in that very moment but fuck it, this whole episode was a disaster to begin with so you're welcome for my changing up how the bugs were slayed and stuff at the end-ish. I made it more realistic (sort of), something most fanfictioners forget to do when they make this chapter for this episode. Don't know how they manage to forget to make it more likable but whatever. At least, I sort of made it more likable, even though it is still quite bad in my opinion. Also, I am very aware that some of my dialogue from the sisters is cringe worthy and that sometimes, Juliet seems too much like Selena one moment and then too much like Riley in another moment but I promise you, I'll get better with playing as her as time goes by, plus her personality is a mixture of both Riley and Selena so that's also why she seemed that way but thankfully, you got to see her as her own person too so that makes up for my lack of originality with her personality. But this is my opinion. If you think I portrayed her as perfectly as I've been doing when she shows up, then thanks but I still kind of feel that I made her too much like both characters XD. I could just be paranoid or something, though. Juliet could just be entirely her own person with just minor comparisons with Riley and Selena but my mind is trying to tell me the opposite. I'm not changing anything, also, so there's that. I'm leaving everything as is so please, stick around if you wanna remain on this possibly slowly building train wreck or feel free to leave and find a much better fanfiction that doesn't over-detail things like me :). Oh and I'm sorry for the lack of dialogue for Juliet and Selena this chapter; as the series continues, the both of them will get more dialogue and become a bigger part of the story (they are just sideline characters, mostly, at this moment in time and they'll likely remain as such in the future but with more dialogue and meaning, I guess).
> 
> 2) Juliet has met the Winchesters and, oh my, it seems that Sam has taken a liking to her while Dean is rather hesitate to trust her, a monster that is nearly impossible to be killed. So, technically, they both are in character to some extent, even though Sam of this season was kind of uncaring at some points about others (but I wanted to change that, to some extent as well, and thus, he had ended up taking a liking to the Grant-Piers siblings). With Dean, he was hesitate to trust Riley and Selena at first, then he was like "okay, maybe I can trust them", then he was back to "I don't know" after that incident from 'Dead in the Water', and then he was back to "okay, so I can trust them after all because they probably would've killed us by now if they wanted to" in 'Phantom Traveler' so I kind of want it to be the same way with him towards Juliet. Me and multiple others agree that I have been keeping them both in character, at most, and that they rarely get out of character so yay for that. Anyways, back to Juliet. So, she met the brothers and you all got to see the moment between Sam and Juliet inside the house. That was interesting, yeah? Not too out of character for Sam, I hope. And as I said before in the first "trivia", I rather liked making that scene between them. Perfect way to begin the makings of their love to come, in my opinion.
> 
> 3) Selena going without any shelter from the rain is based on something I did recently. It was raining and my mother said that I needed to feed the cat, which she lives in the trailer down the path from my home. I asked if I needed a coat and she was like "nah, it's not cold" but it was clearly raining and I clearly didn't think long enough about it cause I just walked out the door and by the time I got back home, it was like I had taken a second shower that day but with my clothes on. That was fun. The time before that, I had went out into the cold with shorts and no coat to go and feed the cat. Thankfully, my cold didn't last as long as it usually does when I get one. A Christmas miracle right there, bitches.


	13. Comatose

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Selena Grant is left in a comatose-like state when she and her half-sister, Riley Piers, are suddenly in a car accident that is influenced (or caused) by one of them. Whilst unconscious, she (still Selena) finds herself having to "survive" against a seemingly unbeatable enemy (thanks to her, Selena, being powerless for some reason) as it tries to (apparently) take over her body and soul (though, she doesn't learn that fact until the ending scene). During such events, the Winchesters (after getting a voicemail) and Riley are trying their best to find a way to make Selena awaken before time runs out but it seems like Selena needs to get out of her situation herself...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Added A/N: Conversation Added At End of Final Scene (Jan 24th, 2018)
> 
> Lots of Warnings: Original Content/Dialogue, Errors of Any Kind, Violence, Slight Gore, Dream Sequences, Potentially Dumb Scenes/Dialogue, High/Low Possibility of Realistic/Unrealistic Actions, Scenes Shorter Than Others (Some May Contain Little to No Dialogue), Slight Suspense, Few Action-Filled Scenes, Video Game Reference Inside (Left 4 Dead), YouTuber Reference Inside (PewDiePie; Felix's Last Name), Possibility of Out of Character Moments/Describing New Not-So-Important Characters, Not Very Accurate Medical Diagnosis, Most Scenes Within Hospital and Two Within A Vehicle, Some Tension, Brief Nudity, Brief Sexual Contact, Death, Lack of Winchester Dialogue (They'll Have More Dialogue Next Original Chapter, Promise! Riley Will Be In Another Reality!), Slightly Rushed 'Cause I Had Absolutely No Clue Where To Go With This If I'm Honest (It's Just A Filter That Replaces the Home episode), I Regret Everything And Nothing About This Chapter (We All Get Like This With Our Own Works), You Might Wanna Pretend This Never Existed In The Future (If You Think It Sucks Like I Originally Did Until A Friend Told Me Otherwise)
> 
> In between seasons, there will be a previous season recap. Some chapters will be left out of the recap, mostly because they'll be deemed unimportant to recap. These recaps will occur before the first chapter of the fanfictions to come for this thirteen-to-fourteen part series. On a side note, this chapter might be a little effy due to lack of ideas and lack of good dialogue creations at some points. I apologize for that and hopefully, the next original chapter (when it comes) will be better since it's mostly done (just gotta edit it to be third person point of view and gotta add a beginning scene, and a few other scenes). The second scene of this chapter definitely probably does contain unrealistic material and it may even contain a bit of out-of-characterness from my original character, Riley. Sorry about that, but I tried my best to do this. Lastly, this chapter is very...not as good as my previous original chapters so I am very sorry about that (Added A/N: Ignore that because most author's doubt their own work sometimes, though almost over half of them don't admit it out loud). I expect it to be hated greatly (Added A/N: I expect it to be hated by few, not everyone since I've been reassured that this is rather decent). It's the best I could manage to make it (either way).
> 
> Nina Dobrev as Selena Grant/The Doppelganger  
> Hayden Panettiere as Riley Piers  
> Madison Riley (as she currently is, meaning age) as Nurse  
> Joel Kinnaman (as he currently is, meaning age) as Doctor Kjellberg  
> Rami Malek as Brian Alderson  
> Emma Roberts as Emily Swan  
> Adrian Pasdar as Ryan Piers

_I don't wanna live_  
_I don't wanna breathe_  
_'Les I feel you next to me_  
_You take the pain I feel_  
_Waking up to you never felt so real_

_(Comatose : Skillet)_

* * *

**~(Approx) Between March 20th-28th, 2006; Oklahoma~**

        The departure between the Grant-Piers half-sisters and the Winchester brothers had been rather short, to a certain degree, and it had been as simple as it could get; small talk and goodbye hugs were had before they had gone separate ways. Currently cruising down the road in her Audi, Riley Piers was silently dreading the decision that she had made. Perhaps she and her younger half-sibling should had stayed with the Winchesters. Perhaps they should've delayed the inevitable for a longer period of time instead of just ending things back there the way they had. Truth of the matter was that she was very afraid, afraid of growing closer to them and afraid of making a place for them in her heart. However, it was far too late for that because it had already been done; she cared for them both very much and she didn't like the thought of them dying while on a hunting job, that being why she wanted to leave in the first place. Everyone in this life of theirs, they  _always_  ended up dead  _eventually_ ; always and eventually, hunters would come and go, due to much too early deaths caused by the supernatural. Because of this, Riley had chosen to leave earlier than expected since she didn't want to be there to witness when they died. Additionally, because of this, she wasn't certain if she wanted to be a part of the final battle with the creature or not since lives would certainly be lost forever during it…

      Sitting beside Riley within the passenger's seat, Selena Grant was staring at her silently. She was thinking about these matters herself, but she didn't seem as emotionally affected by them like Riley was. Sure, she missed the brothers quite a bit already, but she had hope that they'd see one another again someday and she had hope that they would work together to save more lives when that day came. She had a lot of faith in the future, despite what she had heard from the entity within her mind. What if the Winchesters were actually going to be the reason why she becomes like the Doppelganger or what if the Winchesters were the reason why the Doppelganger would eventually be released into the open? She didn't care about that anymore because either way, regardless of if they would ruin her life or not, she would never regret meeting them because while they may ruin her world, they may additionally make it even brighter than it already had become. "...Do you miss them already?" she asked quietly, her gaze soft as she continued staring at Riley.

        Riley kept her eyes on the road ahead, not speaking for the longest of times as she thought about what she'd say. She wasn't sure if she wanted to be truthful or if she wanted to lie to her younger sibling. Eventually, however, she finally answered, releasing a long sigh beforehand. "I..." She sighed once more, only lowly this time around. She had planned on lying before she thought better of it. "The two of them have grown on me," she revealed. "So, yeah. I guess so." Dean and Sam Winchester had taken a place in her heart, and there was nothing she could do about it. She missed them very much, despite it only being five-to-seven minutes since they (the sisters) drove away from the site. Sam was most definitely within her heart because he was like an older sibling to her, based on the rare few individual conversations the two had with each other. Additionally, despite those uncertain feelings she had for Dean, she knew that he had a special place within her heart as well, regardless of whatever she was feeling towards him. Thinking of that, she started to wonder what he thought after reading the note she left behind for him.

        Selena released a rather long hum before she responded to what Riley told her. "We can always go back," she suggested. "Although, they may not be there anymore, so perhaps we can meet up with them on their next case. We can inform them that we have changed our minds and that we wish to continue onward, with them by our sides. Isn't that what you really want? For us to stay with them throughout this little journey of ours?" Selena was happy with either choice since they'd be keeping touch with them either way, but she much rather prefer being by the sides of the Winchester brothers instead of being away from them.

        Yes. Yes, that is what Riley wanted, but she couldn't have it. She didn't want to witness their deaths. She just couldn't bare the thought of seeing that happen. That is why she could no longer be near them. She wanted them to fade from her mind and heart so that when they did pass on, it wouldn't hurt her as badly. So, she shook her head in disagreement with Selena's suggestion. "I'll admit that it may be what I want, but it's far better this way. I don't know why you and Sammy-" She let out a grunt-like noise after saying Sam's nickname and she backtracked a bit. "I don't know why you and  _Sam_  thought that Dean and I were meant to be. We were never meant to be, so don't go bringing him up. Ever. I don't believe in that crap and that's part of why I wished to leave." That was a complete lie, but Selena didn't need to know that. "The main reason why I chose this was because everyone leaves this world eventually and I don't want to be there when that happens to them. I thought I stated this already." She was getting a bit frustrated now. "It's better to leave now while our attachment is still growing, rather than later when our attachment to them is far too great to ignore." She glanced towards Selena and she saw that Selena was confused. "What I mean is that I'd rather it not be painful when we learn they died, whenever they die, rather than hurt like crazy when it happens. I don't want that. Not again.  _Never_  again do I want to feel that kind of pain."

        Selena frowned as she thought over what Riley had stated and she nodded shortly, her eyes drifting away from Riley. She began staring at the dashboard in front of her instead. "I can agree with your words, I suppose, but perhaps we should had remained with them regardless of that. While I agree with what you have said, I think it would have been better to spend all the time we could with them if they truly are to die someday because just as they could die, we could die in the same manner. I do not believe we should avoid them because of some fear for loss." She glanced over at Riley. "Additionally, I do not want us both regretting not having spent more time with them whilst we could have. Attachments may fade in time, yes, but they never truly break."

        Riley tightened her grip on the steering wheel as she continued to stare forward at the road, continuing to drive at a reasonable speed. “...If you want, I can call up Dean or Sam and have them pick you up somewhere. You don’t have to travel with me if you don’t want to.” If Selena really thought that they should had stayed with the Winchesters, then Riley wasn’t gonna hold her back from returning to them. After all, Riley was the one who thought up this plan and Selena had willingly agreed because of the strategy that came with said plan. So, if Selena really wanted to return to the brothers, Riley wouldn’t hesitate to get her back to them. Selena just had to say the word and it would be done. They didn't always have to be together; perhaps separating would be a good thing.

        "No," Selena immediately disagreed as she looked back towards the dashboard. She was unaware of Riley's eyes widening in surprise. "That would not be very fair to you. You would be alone and that would not be right. Part of my reasoning for having become a hunter would be for nothing if I just left you like that, leaving you with no one. I wish to remain with you, despite my opinions. I am almost entirely certain that we will see them again someday soon. After all, how long does it take to find a clue when in two separate locations instead of one? At this rate, we actually are more likely to find something of some sort. So, in other words, our separating from them will not be for nothing." Riley hummed in response and the conversation died back down into silence. Selena looked towards her right, looking at everything that they were passing and she mumbled under her breath so that Riley could not hear. " _I hope_."

**~April 2nd, 2006; Mississippi~**

        “What the fuck, Selena?! Why didn’t you tell me?!” Riley yelled as she sped down the road in her Audi. Beside her, Selena let out a whimper as she clinged onto the passenger’s seat; she was becoming uncomfortable because of both the speed and Riley’s anger. Riley honestly didn’t give a shit at the moment that she was terrifying Selena; she was fucking pissed off with her. Here it was, her birthday (she was turning twenty-two) and she gets a phone call from Sam that revealed to her that Rebecca Grant, Selena’s mother, would very likely come looking for Selena and Selena fucking knew about it already (assumingly). After Riley had calmly hung up the phone, she had began yelling at Selena. She deserved to know this information and yet, Selena didn’t bother telling her this herself; instead, Riley had to hear it from Sam. Again, she was assuming that Selena already knew the information.

        Selena, still gripping her seat tightly, glanced over at Riley with a confused, and terrified, expression. “I’m sorry, but I-I do not know w-what you’re speaking o-of,” she stuttered out. She let out another whimper as the Audi appeared to speed up a bit, going at a very dangerous speed. She wanted to tell Riley to pull over or slow down, but those words never left her lips because not only was she that terrified of what could happen, but she was aware that Riley would likely ignore her requests and she’d continue going faster. They could likely die in a car accident if this continued onward, something that Selena always predicted would happen someday and she didn’t want that day to be today. She really, really hoped that that day wouldn’t be today.

        “Rebecca,” Riley growled in answer as she gripped the steering wheel tightly, pushing her foot further onto the acceleration petal. “Your mother, Selena. Why the fuck didn’t you tell me that she’d come looking for you, huh? Didn’t think I was worthy of knowing this information?” She was still pissed off, why wouldn’t she be, but at least, she wasn’t yelling anymore. She always hated yelling at Selena but goddamn it, was she pissed off with her right fucking now. How could Selena leave her out like that? Was it because Selena knew that she’d react this way? Sure, she hated Rebecca a whole goddamn lot because she was the biggest bitch of bitches to have ever bitched but still, Selena could’ve told her about this information sooner. Hell, she could’ve told her about everything period. But nope, Riley had to hear it from Sam fucking Winchester, who was probably many miles away from them right now with his older brother.

        ”I…” Selena stopped speaking as she gulped, her fear never leaving her. Riley probably took this as hesitation, but that was false. Selena honestly didn’t understand what Riley was speaking of and the fact that Riley didn’t believe her was hurting her feelings, though she couldn’t show it because she was so damn terrified of what could happen to them right now. “...I am not sure what you are talking about, Riley,” she stated truthfully and as calmly as she could in this situation, hoping that Riley would be merciful and slow down the vehicle before damage could be created. God, let Riley believe her and let Riley calm down, let Riley stop the vehicle before it was too late.

        Riley let out a loud growl, indicating that she didn’t believe Selena at all. “For fuck sake, Selena! She wants Juliet to mate with someone but since Juliet doesn’t want that and Rebecca can’t force her since she isn’t weak, that bitch of a mother of yours will go after the next best person and that’s you! Sam told me everything that Juliet warned him about! Don’t know why she didn’t warn me as well but whatever!” She kept her eyes on the road, the Audi approaching a sharp turn. She didn’t slow down at all, not even for a second. Her mind wasn’t in the right place and that was very dangerous, very reckless. “If that bitch thinks she can force you into having kids with some random dick of a Immortal Being…!” She growled again, this growl sounding more animalistic than the last. “I’ll show her a thing or two when I see her goddamn face again! Hell, I’ll rip her face off! I’ll tear her to fucking ribbons! No one is allowed to touch you ever again! I won’t allow it! Not again, not ever!” Her anger was now towards Rebecca, not just towards Selena.

        Selena let out a shriek as the car swerved while Riley started turning around the sharp curve in the road. This was getting too dangerous and Riley was even ending up on the wrong side of the road. This needed to stop before it ended terribly for them both. Riley’s anger was getting too out of control. Selena spoke in a panic, her words still formal despite her rush to get them out and fear was clear in her tone. “Riley, it would be in our best interest if you calmed down and began driving at a reasonable speed before you get us, and someone else, killed!” She didn’t mean to yell but she couldn’t help it. She didn’t want to die and she didn’t want this to be the last conversation they had together.

        Riley ignored her and she didn’t even attempt to slow the car down as she drove towards another turn, the vehicle on the correct side of the road now. She was being reckless, her emotions being as out of control as her actions. This was the worst beginning to her birthday, ever. “This speed ain’t nothing, Selena! We’ll be fucking fine, so shut the fuck up and let me rage!” However, everything didn’t turn out fine at all. As she sped around the next curve, the vehicle shifted to the wrong side of the road and, unable to react before it happened, the Audi hit another vehicle head on (although, the driver of the other vehicle appeared to be able to swerve a bit before impact, the car getting hit by the side instead of the front). The impact was enough to send the second car flipping over the Audi and the Audi swerved a few feet before it came to a stop, landing on its side in the middle of the road. Riley had blacked out momentarily when the impact happened and she came to with her bleeding head laying against the mostly shattered window; her side of the vehicle was towards the ground, which meant that Selena was suspended in the air via her seatbelt. With a groan, Riley turned her head carefully, so she wouldn’t get cut more by the glass, to look up at Selena and she groaned out her name. “Selena…”

        Selena shifted her head slightly, letting out a whimper in response. Her head was bleeding something awful and glass seemed to be lodged into her right arm, the window on her side entirely missing apart from one shard of glass that remained connected to it. She barely had her eyes open, her feeling the need to pass out and to remain such, but she fought that back because she needed to be sure that Riley would make it out of the car in one piece. Riley cursed under her breath and she began mumbling about how she’d save them both. She managed to unbuckle her belt but she immediately regretted that as her body dropped against the shattered window, some of the glass sticking into her skin that became visible due to the sudden drop and she let out a loud whimper when the glass entered her side. A small orange-red flame caught the corner of her eye and she began to panic as she noticed that the car’s engine had caught fire at last; she would be able to control it but she’d only delay the inevitable that would surely lead to death for them both, if they didn’t remove themselves from the vehicle in time.

        “S-Selena…” Riley groaned out, immediately keeping her focus on the fire that tried to grow but it couldn’t, thanks to Riley. “S-Stay with me, Selena. I need you. I need your help or neither of us will make it. Can you… Can you bend the metal…? Please, please tell me you have enough strength to bend the metal…” Otherwise, they would remain trapped and they would burn alive. Selena didn’t give a verbal response, instead doing as Riley asked with some difficulty; she couldn’t focus very well because of the intense pain she was feeling, but she could focus enough to work the metal slowly. Very slowly, but surely, the hood of the vehicle (thankfully, it had been up or the damages would’ve been greater; additionally, the sides of it were made of metal) was beginning to shift out of the way, moving enough to allow Riley to crawl out while she could but Riley didn’t make a move yet. When it didn’t move more, Riley realized that Selena couldn’t continue any further with helping. “It’s… That’s okay, Selena… You did good...” Riley missed the weak half-smile that appeared on Selena’s face as she crawled out of the vehicle and, while managing to keep the fire under control still, moved slowly to see if she was injured elsewhere; her back was fine, her arms were sore, and one of her legs was sore while the other one felt very bad when she attempted to stand on it. However, she forced herself to deal with that horrible pain as she reached up towards where Selena was suspended and she released her hold on the fire, causing the fire to become larger. “I’m gonna unbuckle you and it may hurt like hell when you fall into my arms but it’s better than burning alive. Sorry, I should shut up before we both die.”

        Very quickly, Riley unbuckled Selena’s seat-belt and she caught her ungracefully in her arms, grunting in pain from the glass in her side, the extra weight on her probably broken leg, and the soreness of her arms. Selena let out a loud yelp of pain as the shard of glass entered her arm more and she felt intense pain in multiple of her other limbs, revealing to herself and Riley that she had far more injuries than she had believed; if the wreckage hadn’t been so bad, Riley wouldn’t had attempted to move her, but time was of the essence right now. She (Selena) was beginning to finally blackout as Riley carried her away from the wreckage with difficulty and as they got far enough away, the vehicle exploded behind them, destroying and ruining everything that was within it. Unable to deal with the pain in her leg anymore, Riley collapsed onto the side of the road with Selena landing on top of her. The shard in her side entered her body more and she hissed in pain, but she didn’t let out a yelp. She tried to get Selena to get off her but when Selena didn’t answer and when Selena remained suddenly limp on top of her, Riley panicked and she maneuvered Selena off of her to learn that she had finally passed out. As she tried desperately to make Selena wake up, Riley found herself losing consciousness herself and she welcomed the darkness as she gave up...

**~April 2nd, 2006; Mississippi~**

        When Riley came back into the world of the awake and the living several hours later, she found herself in an unfamiliar location. As her eyes adjusted to the brightness she had awakened to, she came to realize that she was within a hospital room and she was lying within a hospital bed. She glanced around, trying to remember how she had gotten there and why she had ended up there. What had happened? As she studied the plain wallpaper of the room and as she began to feel the iv that was within her arm, everything that had happened earlier came rushing back into her brain. She remembered getting a call from Sam, she remembered being pissed off at Selena and at Rebecca, and more importantly, she remembered the wreck that she had caused to happen. Her heart rate speeding up (and the machine beside her beeping loudly as this happened), she sat up quickly and she looked around the room further, searching for any sign of Selena and she should had expected _not_ to see her in the room; Selena had been injured as well, so she was likely within another room, hopefully nearby Riley’s own room.

        Riley groaned as she moved her legs off the bed carefully and she made a face of disgust as she noted that she had a cast on her right leg, the cast being plain white and going below her knee ever so slightly. Well, walking was definitely gonna feel weird as shit for a while. Keeping her hands firm on the bed, she lifted herself off it slowly and she nearly whimpered as she felt some pressure on her side. She was almost certain that she might had _almost_ pulled out her stitches, assuming she had some, in her side from when the glass had entered her, but she didn’t care about that; her main focus was finding Selena and finding out if she was alive, dead, half dead, or on the verge of being dead. She ignored the soreness in her arms, she ignored the pain when she ripped out the iv, and she ignored the weirdness of walking with a cast as she slowly made her way to the chair across from her, having spotted her clothing laying in it. She needed to get dressed, somehow, and she needed to find Selena. God, let her be alright.

        She was about to start pulling off her blue hospital gown when someone walked into the room that she was within. “Miss, you shouldn’t be out of bed. You could pull your stitches,” the feminine voice stated in a calm tone; Riley assumed that the woman was speaking calmly so that she wouldn’t startle her with her sudden appearance. Riley glanced over at the woman that had spoken, spotting the nurse staring at her with concern and caution in her crystal blue eyes. Riley also took note that the beautiful nurse had her blonde hair held back in a lovely bun and she was wearing blue scrubs. Riley looked away from the woman and she began pulling off her gown carefully, not wanting to pull her stitches but wanting to get the hell outta that room to look for Selena. She glanced back at the nurse as the gown dropped to the floor and she saw that the nurse was leaning outside the room, most likely informing someone that she needed help getting Riley back in the bed willingly. Fuck that, Riley wasn’t getting in that bed at all. She’d gladly pull her stitches to avoid getting back in it if it meant getting to Selena.

        Riley only managed to put her black-and-red bra on before someone else walked into the room; she could see the man from the corner of her eye and he was standing beside the hot nurse. She sighed as she looked towards the man, eyeing the doctor with a glare. The handsome doctor with light brown eyes, short brown hair, and all white professional attire opened his mouth to speak but she interrupted him with her own words. “Fuck no,” she cursed. The nurse beside the doctor stared at Riley with wide eyes. “I’m not getting back into that fucking bed.” She grabbed her black underwear that laid on the arm of the chair and she looked at them both again. “If you’re just gonna watch, you could, at least, tell me the diagnosis while I get dressed. And no. No, you won’t be able to force me back on the bed because I have more important things to worry about right now.” With that, she began to attempt putting on her underwear with slight difficulty, thanks to the cast and her stitches. Additionally, she wasn’t even self-conscious about being half naked in front of strangers; she had enough one-night stands and whatnot that she didn’t mind being seen nude by anyone.

        The doctor released a sigh of his own and he looked towards the nurse, holding out his hand for the clipboard that the nurse had within her grasp; he wasn’t even going to bother fussing with Riley. She (hot nurse) passed the clipboard over to him and he took a look at the papers attached to it. Riley was listed as a Jane Doe and the doctor didn’t plan on asking for her name since she would’ve said it if she really wanted them to know it. “You were found on the side of the road near a wreckage. As you can see, you’ve got a few broken bones but that’ll be fixed in no time. Just keep the cast on for six to eight weeks.” Riley rolled her eyes as she finally managed to put on her panties, already aware of this obvious information that the man was telling her. “No major damage was inflicted on you, no deep wounds apart from your side that was stitched up and it’ll heal up _correctly_ if you don’t put too much pressure on your stitches, and you do have a mild concuss-” He stopped speaking when he noticed that Riley was shaking her head as she picked up her blue turtleneck and she nearly shoved it on but she put it on gently when she remembered her stitches. “Is something wrong?” the doctor asked her, wondering why she was shaking her head.

        Riley turned towards the doctor, only missing her jeans, belt, shoes, and necklace. “Look here, Doctor-” She glanced down towards his name-tag and although it read _Kjellberg_ , she had no fucking clue how to pronounce that last name and she assumed that the man was probably Swedish or something. He looked like he was foreign and he had sounded slightly such, too, but he probably had been in America so long that his accent was mostly gone. “-However You Pronounce Your Damn Last Name. I’ll just call you Dr. Sexy or something.” She looked back up at him and the man appeared to be slightly amused by what she had said. “I don’t give a shit about my own diagnosis. I care about the diagnosis of the _woman_ that was with me.” She could hear about Selena from them, if they knew anything.

        Any sign of amusement left Doctor Kjellberg as he started frowning at Riley. “I can’t give you information about the second Jane Doe. It’s restricted.” Meaning she wasn’t allowed to know because, assumingly, she wasn’t related to Jane Doe Number Two (he was unaware of Riley and Selena’s relation with each other because both were a Jane Doe and they didn’t look alike).

        Riley felt distress entering her being as she put a hand in her hair. At least, she didn’t have to go far to get some information about Selena, if she managed to convince the guy to give her such information. “Look, dude. Dr. Sexy.” Tears were beginning to form in her eyes as she thought about what Selena’s condition probably was. “She’s my younger half-sister. She was with me. I dragged her from the car myself so she wouldn’t die. Can you tell me if she’s okay…? Or if she’s even still fucking alive? S-She’s okay, right? She’s all I’ve got left on this godforsaken planet.” She couldn’t lose Selena and she especially couldn’t lose her knowing that it was her own fault for it happening. She should had listened to Selena, but she didn’t and now, she regretted it terribly and Selena’s life would likely be the cost of her stupid, reckless mistake.

        Doctor Kjellberg appeared to be hesitate to reveal any information whatsoever, but from the tears that were beginning to fall down Riley’s cheeks, he felt that her words revealed only the truth of the matter. “...She’s in critical condition. She obtained more, and similar, injuries that were worse off than your own. She remains unconscious and we aren’t certain if she’ll ever awaken. It’s too soon to tell which way things will go for her and we’ve yet received the results of her brain scan.”

        Riley placed a hand to her mouth as she turned away from Doctor Kjellberg and the silent hot nurse that was still within the room. Selena wasn’t doing well. Selena was far more injured than she herself and that wasn’t fair. She (Riley) should be the one who was in critical condition, not Selena. Selena didn’t deserve to go out like this. There had to be some sort of way to awaken her, some _supernatural_ way of doing it. She cannot lose Selena because of her stupid mistake. She just couldn’t. Thinking about the wreck, Riley’s hand dropped from her mouth and she turned towards the doctor again. “Wait, what about the other driver? Are they okay?” Were they in critical condition, too? Did they make it out okay?

        Doctor Kjellberg continued to frown. Only bad news would be told, based on that expression on his face. “He was found dead when paramedics arrived on the scene.” Quite obviously, someone had drove down that road where the wreck occurred and they had called 911. It happened only minutes after both half-sisters had passed out. “We believe he died instantly. Glass was lodged in his throat.” He didn’t get more detailed than that.

        "Oh, God…" Riley put her hands in her hair as she took a seat in the chair that still held the remainder of her clothing and accessories (surprisingly, no one had removed her ring but they had removed her necklace). She hissed slightly in pain from sitting down too quickly but she didn't cause her stitches to come anywhere close to undone. She couldn't believe it… She killed someone… Because of her recklessness, she caused an innocent man to die… That man had a family and she had killed him… She had killed him and she might additionally be the cause of Selena dying, too… This, officially, was the worst goddamn birthday she ever fucking had.

        Doctor Kjellberg left the room, him having been needed elsewhere. The nurse approached Riley and while she agreed that Riley could wear her clothing again, Riley needed to stay within her room for the remainder of the day so that they could make sure nothing else was wrong with her. Reluctantly, Riley agreed with this and she put on her clothing while the nurse left to get her some food and water. In order to get her jeans on, Riley had to rip the right leg of it off slightly above the knee. With all clothing on, she moved to the bathroom that was conjoined with the room and she looked into the mirror. She had a cut across her forehead and her right cheek, but neither were stitched up so they clearly hadn't been too deep and both of her arms were sore as hell, but that was fine. Her turtleneck had a blood stain on one of its side, due to the wound that she had obtained but there were smears of blood at other parts of it, that blood likely belonging to Selena. She looked down at her hands, her necklace in her grasp and she frowned as she traced the large crack in the literal heart. Looking up at the mirror again, she placed the necklace on before leaving the restroom and she approached the bed, getting in it just as the nurse returned.

        The nurse remained by Riley's side while she ate and afterwards, the nurse left with what remained. Riley sat alone in the room, iv back in her arm, and she glanced down at the table near her and the beeping machine. She saw a pamphlet of the hospital she was within.  _Singing River Hospital_. So, she was in Pascagoula, still within Mississippi. She began staring at the window within the room, a frown on her face as tears continued to slowly drip down her cheeks. Selena could be dying and there wasn't anything she could really do about it… She didn't want to be alone… She didn't want to go through this alone… Memories of Selena flashed before her very eyes: her first meeting Selena, Selena giving her the ring, her first time defending Selena from someone, the first time Selena defended her from someone, the first time they hunted together, the last time they hunted together, so on and so forth. The worst memory of them all was when the wreck occurred…

        There really had to be some way to get Selena to wake up, a way to keep her alive but Riley couldn’t find that out on her own. Only two people, that could possibly help her, came into mind and she picked up her cellphone that laid on the table. It was cracked but thankfully, it was still working. For a split second, she wondered if the hospital tried calling any of the very few numbers she had but considering she labeled those contacts by single letters, no one probably touched the numbers. She went to _D.W._ on her contacts list and let the number dial. It went to voicemail but she was certain that he’d hear her message eventually and hopefully soon. “Winchester… Dean… It’s Riles… Something happened… A wreck… It was my fault… I was so angry and I didn’t listen to her, Dean… We both got hurt but she’s…. She’s worse off than I am, Dean… They don’t think she’ll wake up…” She sniffled as her voice started breaking as she spoke. “Maybe you and Sam could find something to help her wake… Or you could come here and help me through this… I don’t know… Either or both would be really great right about now… I don’t want to be alone… She’s all I have, D… I can’t lose her now… We’re at Singing River Hospital in Pascagoula, Mississippi… Just hurry…” She ended the voice message and silently thanked God for the great phone reception within the hospital… Hopefully, the Winchesters would come to their rescue…

**~Dreamland~**

         _Selena’s eyes opened wide and she sat up quickly. She didn’t scream and she didn’t call for help or call for Riley in particular. Instead, she was overcome with shock as she looked around the room she was within. How did she get here, here being her father’s home in North Carolina? Selena last remembered being suspended sideways in the Audi somewhere in Mississippi and she remembered Riley helping her down. She didn’t remember anything else that could have possibly occurred afterwards because she lost consciousness. As she stood up from the living room floor and as she twirled to get a good look at the place, she wasn’t sure if she was just dreaming about being back there or if she was actually there and had forgotten she had been brought there. Quite honestly, it was hard to tell if it was reality or fantasy because everything looked so real, so much like it once had been before the incident._

_However, when Selena took one step backwards from where she had been standing, absolutely everything changed in the blink of an eye. Instantly, the carpet on the floor was soaked in blood and it wasn’t dry like it had been when Selena, and Riley, had found their family dead, the blood being completely fresh. Christi Moore, Riley’s mother, wasn’t in her deceased position beside the carpet but her blood was there, creating an outline of what had remained of her body. The corpse of Ryan Piers, Selena and Riley’s shared father, wasn’t exactly where it had been when found. No, his body had been on the couch while his head was on the television and only his head was where it was supposed to be, though there was blood on the couch. Selena stared in horror at the scene before her and she closed her eyes, hoping that she’d wake up from this nightmare; she was certain now that she was back in her little dreamland and if this was occurring, the Doppelganger couldn’t be too far away and Selena needed to awaken now before it showed up. However, when she opened her eyes, she let out a scream and she jumped back as she stared in fright at the body of Ryan that had been missing from its location; it was standing upright, right in front of her face, and its shoulders were moving, like it was breathing but its head remained missing. She moved far away from it as it headed around the couch with ease and she watched as it found its head, placing it onto its body incorrectly. However, it fixed that problem when its body swirled around to correct the mistake and to realign the body entirely._

_“Hey, baby girl,” the corpse of Ryan cooed as it stared at Selena with a creepy smile on its face. “It’s been a while. How come you don’t visit?” It sounded nothing like what Ryan use to sound like, its voice almost a mixture of robotic and demonic. Additionally, its mannerism was way off the scale to be anywhere close to how Ryan spoke. Blood was dripping down its neck. “Life’s not fun without a head, you know? My poor wife got the worst end of the deal but no head, that really takes the cake. How come you still have yours?” It began to walk around the couch, heading towards her. “Why aren’t you dead, too? We should be dead as a family, but you, you had left us. You and your good-for-nothing sister left us to die, to be slaughtered like animals by an animal.” It grew closer and closer to Selena, and Selena backed away from it as it approached her but it still appeared to be getting closer to her person despite the distance she thought she was putting between them. “You should be slaughtered like an animal, too. It’s only fair, baby girl. Don’t worry. It’ll only hurt a lot.” It lunged at Selena, nails like claws as it tried to scratch her. Selena dived out of the way and it ended up crashing head first into the wall nearby, its head falling off easily and the body hit the floor motionlessly._

_Selena was momentarily safe again, but it didn’t last very long. She felt a hand on her shoulder as she took a few steps back from the corpse of Ryan and she spun around quickly, mouth dropping in horror and surprise. The corpse of Ryan hadn’t been the only corpse to come alive in that house, but surprisingly, it wasn’t Christi. Instead, the new corpses were of Brian Alderson and Emily Swan. Emily’s corpse had blood dripping from its mouth, blood pouring from the wounds in its abdomen that had been caused by Mara, the demon that had possessed it while it was living. Additionally, its neck was twisted and looked broken, it having been broken by the same demon when it was barely living. Beside Emily’s corpse, Brian stood with blood all over its body and it looked like it was ripped to shreds, barely holding together as its guts and other organs slowly dropped out of its body. Both corpses spoke as one, sounding as robotic and demonic as the last one. “Why didn’t you save us? Why did you let us die? Why are you allowed to be alive?” Selena moved away from them as the corpse of Ryan began to pick itself back up from the floor and it placed its head back on its body again, correctly this time. All three corpses moved towards Selena. “This was your fault!” they growled together, all three of them lunging towards Selena as one. Selena jumped out of the way and in a panic, attempted to sent them flying with telekinesis; it’s her dream, it should work in dream as well as it did outside the dream world but nothing occurred. Realizing that she was powerless, she took off running to the location of the bedroom she had shared with Riley when she lived in that house as the three corpses chased after her..._

**~April 3rd, 2006; **Pascagoula,** Mississippi~**

        A day and a half. A whole day and a half had gone by, and Riley still hadn’t been allowed to go see her comatose half-sister. She had spent all of the previous day and half of the current day just sitting in that hospital bed of hers, praying that Selena would awaken but the news was always the same, whenever she asked the occasional passing by nurse. Selena showed no signs of awakening any time soon. It was still far too early for them to tell if she would awaken or not. On the bright side, Selena’s brain scan came back positive, for the most part. Obviously, she had a concussion, which would explain how she ended up in a coma, but other than that, there were positive signs of her waking up eventually (though, everyone still wasn’t entirely certain if she would). So, here Riley was, sitting on the hospital bed sulking in disappointment that Selena hadn’t awakened yet, that she couldn’t see Selena yet, and that the Winchesters hadn’t arrived to help her out. Although, that (the latter) was too soon to tell as well, considering she only left a voicemail the day before and the brothers could be halfway across the country currently (they were hunters like herself, after all). She hoped they would show up eventually and that they would help her out with getting Selena to wake up. She truly didn’t want to risk having that, her waking up, happen the normal way instead of a supernatural way because what if Selena didn’t wake up ever? She was more likely to wake with help that no one else could provide.

        A few hours passed by and still, nothing new. Well, that wasn’t entirely true. While Riley stared out the window that was across from her hospital bed that she was sitting on, and she was still dressed in her clothing from the day before, the nurse from the day before approached the open doorway but she didn’t walk inside. Instead, she gestured for someone to enter before she gave a kind smile and walked off. Stepping into the room was Dean and Sam, both dressed in their usual attires and both looking as though they missed out on some rest. Both of them stepped halfway across the room before either of them said a word, Sam being the first to say anything. “Hey, stranger.”

        Riley turned her head quickly from the window and a very faint smile appeared on her face when her eyes landed on the Winchester brothers. She maneuvered to the other side of the hospital bed carefully and she stood up slowly, letting out a hiss from the pressure on her stitches. She took two steps forward and she hugged Sam first, him being the closest to her at the moment. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders gently, her arms being around his waist. “You both came after all,” she stated softly, her faint smile becoming a half-smile. She moved out of the hug and she noticed that a sad smile was on Sam’s face. She averted her eyes from him and she looked towards Dean, hugging him next. “And a lot quicker than what I was expecting,” Riley continued, keeping her arms around Dean longer than she had with Sam. Tears were forming in her eyes and she knew she wouldn’t be able to hide them from the brothers, but she didn’t care since that didn’t matter right now.

        Dean kept his arms around Riley, a frown on his face and sadness in his eyes. He was keeping his facial expressions composed, them being unreadable, and yet, he couldn’t hide the sadness within his eyes. Hearing Riley’s voicemail was heartbreaking and knowing that Selena was hurt, he was worried about her condition and Riley’s sanity. “‘Course we did,” he muttered into Riley’s hair. “We couldn’t leave you hanging like that. Not with what happened to Selena.” Riley removed herself from Dean’s arms, a frown on her face as she looked elsewhere with tears threatening to spill down her cheeks again. Dean didn’t take his hands off her just yet, his hands having moved to her shoulders. “How… How is she…?” Dean asked hesitantly. Riley didn’t say much in the voicemail about how bad off Selena was, but it was implied that it was bad enough to make Selena comatose.

        Riley couldn’t tell them much, considering she hadn’t been able to see Selena’s condition for herself just yet. She could tell them what she had been told, however. “The same,” she whispered as she looked towards Dean, looking into his eyes. “She hasn’t woken up yet, from what I’ve been told. They haven’t exactly allowed me to see her yet. Not sure why, but I’m hoping they’ll let me soon. I need to see for myself… Need to see what I’ve done… What I’ve caused…” That was likely the reason why the doctors and nurses haven’t let Riley see Selena; they didn’t want to risk making Riley go into a mental breakdown of some sort upon her seeing Selena’s condition. It was better safe than sorry.

        Sam was frowning himself by this point and he nodded shortly, his eyes on Riley. “What happened?” he asked softly, wanting to know absolutely everything that Riley had previously neglected to mention in the voicemail. What exactly had happened? How was this Riley’s fault? Had they been on a hunt and Selena got hurt? Had Riley failed to protect her and that was why she was blaming herself? All of Sam’s assumptions were farthest from the truth of what actually occurred to the Grant-Piers half-sibling sisters.

        Riley glanced towards Sam before she gently made Dean release his hold on her shoulders. She turned away from them and she moved back over to the hospital bed, sitting down on it slowly. She wanted to explain while sitting down, in case she got too emotional because she likely would’ve dropped to her knees and that would’ve caused some unnecessary pain in her side. Plus, she just didn’t like standing with a cast on her leg ‘cause it felt fucking weird. “...I was pissed off about what you told me,” she began, looking up at Sam. “I was mad at Selena, for not telling me anything. I was speeding. She told me to slow down, to stop before we died. Before someone else died. But, I didn’t listen to her.” She looked away from Sam, looking down at the floor for a second before she looked back up, staring at both brothers. Her voice began to crack. “...Now, someone is dead because of me… And Selena may end up dying, too, because of me… I should’ve listened to her… I should’ve listened…” She began to sob, her tears flowing down her cheeks as she looked back down towards the floor. “I should’ve listened… I should’ve listened…” She felt the mattress lower on one side of her as Sam sat down beside her, her soon feeling his arms wrap around her. “She’s all I have left… I can’t lose her now… I don’t want to be alone…”

        “You’re not alone,” Sam assured her. “You have us.” That was true. He wouldn’t go so far as to say that they were practically family, but she did have them as friends. That was better than nothing. “And you won’t lose her. Okay? She’ll be fine.” He seemed confident, sounded such too. However, inside his own mind, he wasn’t very confident. In fact, he was extremely worried about how long Selena would stay unconscious. It could take weeks, months, maybe years before she would awaken, if she was to ever awaken. He didn’t believe that any amount of research would change that fact.

        “We’ll figure this out, like we always do,” Dean stated. Hunters always figured out what to do in any given situation. Just, it wasn’t very often where that situation was very normal and not supernatural by any means. Not everyday did a hunter get into a car accident that _wasn’t_ caused by some sort of monster. This time, it was just a simple wreck caused by a mistake. Unless Riley and her supernatural powers counted as something paranormal causing the wreck, but that couldn’t be the case at all since her powers weren’t at fault here.

        The three of them made small talk for the next thirty minutes before the same nurse came by, informing them that they could see Selena. After being lead to the room (and after Dean checked out the nurse beforehand because he thought she was hot), Riley started to cry in Dean's arms after taking one glance at Selena and Sam struggled to not have an emotional outburst himself while Dean remained expressionless, yet not emotionless. Selena laid unconscious on her hospital bed, an iv in one arm and a breathing mask on her face. Her legs weren't in casts but they were bandaged up quite a bit, her right arm was in a cast, her left arm was bandaged up and most likely had been stitched up too (though, the stitches were covered), a bandage was wrapped around her neck, there was a bandage on her left cheek, and her forehead had been stitched up (and additionally bandaged like most of her body), the cut there having been worse than the cut Riley had on her own forehead. She additionally appeared to be paler than usual and what remained of her damaged clothing, and accessories, was resting on a chair nearby. Sam picked up the jewelry that laid there, it being only Selena's pendant and the angel wings that had been attached to her second necklace (that second necklace and her oddball ring were nowhere in sight, so it was likely they had been damaged beyond repair and were elsewhere, likely the trash). Silently staring at Selena, the three of them came to a similar conclusion: they needed to find a way to make sure she'd wake up… Additionally, it was a miracle that Riley hadn't been harmed as badly…

**~Dreamland~**

         _Selena slammed the door of her bedroom shut, locking it behind her. She didn’t have much time before the corpses would bust in and attack her again. She looked around the room, searching for the salt that she and Riley usually kept in their room for special occasions. Fortunately, she was able to find it at the edge of Riley’s bed and she quickly made a line of salt at all entrances (and exits). With that being done, she let out a sigh. That would buy her a bit of time, hopefully. Now, she needed to think. Why wasn’t she waking up? She was usually able to force herself to awaken whenever she got too overwhelmed by her nightmares, but she couldn’t this time. Why couldn’t she wake herself up? What had happened? Had she been hurt worse than she had originally thought? Is that why she was stuck here? Was she...comatose?_

_Unbeknownst to her, something was forming behind her. Darkness was appearing and she had no clue that it was, her eyes on the door in front of her. Out from that darkness, a feminine body began to form as it walked out of said darkness. Its body was extremely thin and its bones were showing greatly, its skin was extremely pale, and its hair was to its shoulders and it was a platinum-blonde color. It glared at the back of Selena’s head with sunken red eyes and its bloody mouth was full of sharp teeth that it would likely use to bite Selena while she was unaware. It was wearing a strange attire, it consisting of a tattered white tanktop that covered its large breasts and a pair of white panties that kept it mostly covered up. Knees and feet stained in blood, the last of its features was its twelve-inch-long, bloodstained claws for fingers. The damn thing looked more demonic than any demon that Selena had encountered and it was slowly approaching her from behind, without her knowledge of it having appeared. When the creature began to growl, Selena became aware of something being behind her but she was far too late to react fully._

_Turning halfway on her heels, Selena let out a pain filled scream as the right claws of the creature slashed her left arm. Gripping her wounded arm, she dodged the next attack and she managed to kick the beast back, knocking it across the room from her. Taking a risk, Selena unlocked the bedroom door and she sprinted out of it, not caring if she ended up running into those corpses again. She’d rather deal with them than deal with this new creature that she never saw before in her life. She had no protection against it, it having entered the circle of salt. How the hell was she gonna prevent it from attacking her again…? She needed to wake up and soon… But how…?_

**~April 3rd, 2006; **Pascagoula,** Mississippi~**

        The day was entering the beginning hours of night. Dean and Sam were no longer within Selena’s hospital room, both of them instead being inside the lobby of the hospital. Riley had wanted to be alone in the room with Selena, her having wanted to say her apologies and whatnot to Selena (that Selena probably wouldn’t hear anyways, probably). So, because of that, the Winchester brothers had gone down to the lobby, so that they could head outside to the Impala to get some much needed gear, which so happened to be Sam’s laptop and the laptop that Dean owned but rarely ever actually used. Together, the brothers were researching ways to wake Selena or ways to bring her back to life if she were to pass on because Riley would want them to do such research, regardless of consequences either result would have in the end since everything came with some sort of price to pay. Unbeknownst to them, Juliet Grant already had a plan for when Selena were to unexpectedly die and it was too bad that she wasn’t around to inform everyone of it.

        As the brothers researched things from within the lobby (while getting a few stares from some visitors), Sam glanced up from his laptop to look at Dean (who was sitting across from him). Sam couldn’t help but to wonder about something in particular. Why exactly was Dean helping out with this? What was his reasoning, really? Was it because he actually cared about both sisters? Was it because he lusted for Riley and would do anything she asked, in order to get laid? Was it because he liked Riley and just wanted to help her out? Was it just because he felt like helping? It was rather hard to tell, considering Dean hardly allowed his feelings for anyone to show publicly and he was kind of decent at pretending since lying and pretending came with being a hunter. Although Sam was almost entirely certain that Dean wasn’t faking his feelings and that Dean did actually care about the girls (based on moments he witnessed between them, from the little he heard from Dean about them, and from the fact that Dean quickly turned the Impala around when he heard Riley’s voicemail), Sam wanted to hear it from Dean himself. Sam was tired of just assuming such from Dean. “Dean, why are you doing this?” he asked finally, staring at Dean as he waited for a response.

        Dean looked up from his laptop, taking his eyes off the useless article he had been skimming through; there seemed to be absolutely nothing that would help them wake up Selena, not anything in a supernatural way at least. “What do you mean why I’m doing this?” he questioned back. “I’m doing this to save Selena. _We’re_ doing this to save Selena. She can’t go out like this, man. She’s a hunter. Hunters should go out in a blaze of glory, not from car crashes.” He looked back at his laptop, clicking out of the article he had been skimming through. Why would Sam ask him something as stupid as that? Sam should’ve known by now that he (Dean) would do anything for either sister. He was surprised that Sam hadn’t been assuming such already. Dean shook his head slightly as he looked for another article that could possibly help them, dismissing what just happened so that he could worry about more important things like getting Selena to wake up and not die.

        Sam sighed and he shook his head, not looking back down towards his own laptop. He wanted to get a confession out of Dean. Now probably wasn’t the best of times to be getting any sort of confession outta Dean but he wanted to hear one anyways. In all honesty, he didn’t believe they’d find anything at all that would be helpful for waking Selena, so it was technically fine to procrastinate; Selena would probably wake up eventually without any magical help from them like most people tended to do. “That’s not what I had meant, Dean,” Sam told him, continuing to stare at him. Dean looked back up at him again, confusion and curiosity on his face for a split second before his expression became blank again. “I’m doing this for them both. What about you?” Sam thought of them as younger siblings, but that didn’t necessarily mean that he actually thought of the girls as family just yet. He cared about them, sure, and he cared enough to pause the hunt for his father, and the creature, just to check up on them, but his priorities were a bit different than everybody else’s which, additionally, was also kind of why he’d rather have some small talk than look up something that probably didn’t even exist in the first place (a supernatural way of waking Selena from her comatose-like state).

        Dean glared at Sam. Seriously? Who the hell did Sam think he was? “Don’t be ridiculous, Sam. I’m doing this for the both of them, just as you are.” What the hell was up with Sam and his questions? They had more important things to deal with. Additionally, considering that both of them were there to help Riley with getting Selena to awaken, the answer to those questions of his should had been obvious already; they wouldn’t be there if neither of them had cared about the sisters.

        Sam continued asking questions, his fingers tracing the sides of his laptop boredly. “Why? What’s your reason?” He wasn’t gonna stop until he got some sort of confession from Dean. He had gotten plenty of confessions from Dean already on multiple occasions about the sisters in the past, but he wanted to hear one more, just because.

        Dean began to become visibly annoyed with Sam and he continued to glare at him. “Really? Do we have to do this now?” Sam just stared at him, giving him the puppy eyes so he could get an answer from him. Dean made a face, averting his gaze. “Look, Sammy, I’m not… I’m not really great with admitting things, you know that,” he stated, finally understanding what Sam wanted. He released a sigh, rubbing his face. “I just… I don’t want anything to happen to either of them.” With that, he looked back towards the laptop. That was as close to admitting he loved the sisters and cared for them as he was gonna get. He felt extremely uncomfortable now, though, and he hated Sam (momentarily) because he was the cause of it.

        Sam cracked a smile as he looked back at his laptop. “Yeah. Me too.” He agreed with Dean’s kind of admitted feelings. Despite his views on some things, he loved both sisters in a friendly manner. Although, Sam couldn’t help but wonder if Dean would eventually love Riley romantically since he liked her a little too much sometimes for it to be in a friendly sort of manner.

        All of a sudden, Riley was sprinting into the lobby and she was searching for the brothers, quickly finding them at a few chairs by one of the entrances to the building with a lack of people surrounding them (lack of people sitting near the brothers). Both of them looked at her quickly, alerted when she approached them with haste. “Guys, come quick,” she panted out before she quickly went back the way she came. Both brothers closed their laptops, carrying the objects with them as they sprinted after Riley. The three of them entering Selena’s room, Riley gestured towards Selena’s arms. “Look.” Claw marks were on Selena’s left arm, the marks beginning above her bandages and ending below them, blood soaking her bandages as the fresh blood was created from these new sudden wounds. “You see that, too, right? Those marks weren’t there before.” Before either brother could answer, more claw marks appeared but this time, they appeared above the cast on Selena’s right arm. Something was amiss and the three of them were going to find out what it was… Perhaps something supernatural had been keeping Selena unconscious all this time… That would explain her lack of waking up when she had mostly perfect brain activity…

**~April 3rd, 2006; **Pascagoula,** Mississippi~**

        The door to Selena’s hospital room was shut, giving some privacy to not only the unconscious woman in the bed but to the three hunters that were researching from within the room instead of elsewhere. Dean, Riley, and Sam couldn’t risk looking up articles elsewhere, in case more claw marks were to appear on Selena’s body; they couldn’t risk any doctors or nurses finding out that something was amiss and if they did find out, hopefully the lie of ‘Selena pulled her stitches by moving too much’ would work out well. The three spent a full hour or two trying to find any information about a demon that could invade the mind or a monster that could cause harm from within the mind, but they came up empty handed each time, at a loss for whatever this thing was that kept hurting Selena.

        Sam let out a sigh of frustration as he sat his laptop down, his back against the wall as he remained sitting on the floor. He was beginning to lose his patience with this mess. “There’s nothing here that says anything about demons or monsters invading the brain. There are a few lures that speak of there being creatures that _read_ the mind, but nothing on being attacked _from_ the mind.” Now that he was aware of it being some sort of monster that was keeping Selena unconscious, he was more on board with waking her up but he was getting frustrated with the lack of useful information.

        Riley was sitting in one of two chairs that were inside the room, her having moved it so that it was directly beside the chair that Dean was sitting within. She was leaning against his shoulder, looking at his laptop. She was unaware of how flustered (confused) she was making him. “Well, it definitely isn’t an Incubus. Sexual demons have to be present and they’d be…” She hesitated to continued. “...Well, they’d be fucking her while she would be dreaming some sort of... wet dream.” Sam and Dean both looked at her with uncomfortable looks on their faces. “Sorry. Just sayin’ that we’d know if it were an Incubus. It’s not fun being their prey.” Now that uncomfortable look was a surprised and horrified look. Riley looked at them both. “Well, how else would I know this information? Selena and I had an Incubus case before, and I was his type. Selena saved me before the sexual assault could begin. Not a big deal, you guys.” She had revealed that she, like Selena, had almost been sexually assaulted by a creature of some sort, but she didn’t seem too affected by it (mentioning it didn’t even seem to bother her). “Anyways, nothing has touched Selena on this plain of existence so that sort of demon is ruled out.”

        “Thankfully,” Dean muttered as he looked back towards the laptop. He never wanted to deal with that sort of demon.

        Sam sighed again as he stood up from the floor, leaving his laptop where it was. He began heading towards the closed door. “I’m gonna take a break and get us some food. You guys keep trying to find something. Look for anything that seems remotely similar to what’s happening to Selena.” He opened the door and closed it behind him as he left. The reasoning behind why he, Dean, and Riley were allowed to stay within Selena’s room despite it being past visiting hours was due to bribery; Riley didn’t say what she did but she did say that she bribed Doctor Kjellberg (she called him Dr. Sexy again when she spoke of him to the brothers) into allowing them to stay just that one night. So, they were on a very tight schedule with getting Selena to awaken before they were to be kicked out of the room for various reasons. The only problem was that they were having troubles with finding anything useful. _Still_.

        For several minutes, Dean and Riley looked through articles on the laptop silently, not saying a single word to one another. However, the silence began to bother Dean a slight bit. “We’re gonna figure this out, Riles,” he suddenly stated, assuring her that they’d find out what was hurting Selena. “Eventually,” he added on a few seconds later. It was taking a long while for them to find anything remotely close to what was happening right now but no one had ever witnessed seeing claw marks appearing on someone’s body. No one had endured such things either. They had no leads, no nothing to figure this shit out. That would be a second time this happened, the first being the creature that killed Jess and Mary since they didn’t have leads for that either.

        Riley answered without sarcasm, not being in the mood for it. If she had been in the mood, her response would've been on the lines of  _no fucking duh, Sherlock_  and she would've said it in a sarcastic tone. However, instead she said, "I know, Dean," in a very dull, almost lifeless tone as she stared at the laptop that was laying on Dean's lap. "I know. You told me that already."

        “Sorry,” Dean muttered. He grew quiet, but he spoke again about a minute later. “You know, last time I called you Riles, you told me not to call you that again. I think you said something on the lines of ‘we’re not close enough’ or something…” He’d never admit it to anyone but he could admit it to himself that he was happy to know Riley didn’t care about the nickname anymore.

        “That’s right, D. I did say something like that,” Riley agreed. She turned her head to look at him instead of the laptop. “It’s only fair since I tend to call you by your last name or by your initial. Besides, I hate to admit it but I really like hearing you call me Riles.” She felt tingles whenever he called her that. She never had tingles before when someone else called her a nickname. Perhaps maybe with Brian when he was alive but those nicknames were mainly dirty and had no association with her own name. Whenever Selena used a nickname for her, Riley would feel a bit happy. This, however, was just different somehow. How odd…

        Dean looked over at Riley, their faces close to one another. “Yeah, is that so?”

        Riley hummed, nodding slightly. Her tone wasn’t as dull and lifeless as it had been a few minutes beforehand but it wasn’t very full of life still. “Mmhmm. Not sure why that is but it just… It feels right, you know? To be called Riles by you… _And_ Sam also, if he wants to.” She blushed a bit, averting her gaze for a moment before she looked back into his eyes. They stared at one another for another moment before they began leaning closer to each other, closing their eyes slowly. Before their lips could finally meet, they both turned away from each other (and moved as far as they could from each other) when the door opened up again. Sam had came back with some snacks from a vending machine (since hospital food tended to suck ass) and a couple of canned sodas from the soda machine. He eyed Dean and Riley questionably but they both dismissed him, Riley eating some chips and drinking soda while Dean continued searching for something on entities now. Perhaps they would get somewhere now…

**~Dreamland; April 4th, 2006; **Pascagoula,** Mississippi~**

         _Selena was holding onto one of her wounds that had been inflicted on her. She could feel the pain as if it were real. Was this actually real? Was this not a dream after all? What the hell was happening? As she ran around the house, going through every single room, the monster was still right on her ass and when both had somehow made it to the kitchen area (after a long ass chase beforehand), it clawed at Selena, slashing her left leg up pretty badly. Selena cried out and she dropped to the ground, her hands going onto her leg. She wanted this to end. She wanted to be saved if this was real. She wanted to wake up if this was just a nightmare. She was losing her mind. She just wanted some peace again. She didn’t want this happening anymore. She wanted it gone, out of sight and mind… She wanted her powers back…_

        _Selena looked at the creature in horror as it approached her menacingly but to her surprise, it didn't attempt to kill her and it didn't attempt to harm her further. As she waited for the inevitable while crawling backwards slowly, the creature started laughing evilly in front of her and right before her very eyes, the creature started changing into something else entirely. She realized what she was dealing with as soon as she had heard that laugh, having heard it whenever the thing appeared in her nightmares. In no time, her evil opposite, the Doppelganger, was standing before her, still cackling. It was still dressed in that other outfit, not having magically switched it to her usual dress. It was a bit odd, seeing **herself**  dressed in something like that but that was beside the point. Selena was actually very terrified of this thing now, more so than she ever had been. She had no clue that it could morph into other things. She only thought it showed visions of the horrible future that could occur. "Surprise," it greeted. "It has been a while, hasn't it? A few weeks, right? I lost count after a day. I missed you. Did you miss me?"_

        _Selena stared up at it, trembling in fear. This thing was more unpredictable than she had originally thought. She hadn't expected it to harm her. She hadn't expected it to be able to turn into something else entirely. She hadn't even expected it to be able to keep her from doing what she wished within the dream. What if it killed her? She had no means of self defense. What if it took over her body? Would it kill her friends, her sisters, and her mother? Would it kill everyone? Would anyone even tell the difference between her and the Doppelganger, if the Doppelganger somehow became her? "Why are you doing this to me?" she questioned as calmly as she could manage as she removed her hands from her wounded leg. Strangely, in this dream, the only wounds she had were the wounds that the Doppelganger gave her. "What do you want from me?" she whispered in question seconds later._

        _The Doppelganger grinned as it clasped its hands together. "My, I am so glad you asked. I grew so tired of waiting. I want to be real. I was gonna be patient with you, let you ruin yourself." It started shaking its head, its amusement turning into anger rather quickly. "But then you left the Winchesters." It started yelling, it's composure gone temporarily. "You were suppose to stay put! You were not allowed to leave! Why did you leave?! You stupid bitch! You nearly ruined my chance of becoming a reality!" Its anger died down a tad after that. "Your actions resulted in consequences and that's why you're here now. You're stuck in **my**  world. All because of a little car accident. How sad. Your sibling is crying her eyes out, you know. I could hear her babbling on and on in  **our**  ear about how sorry she is for causing this to happen to you." It started smirking, its anger gone completely. "She will be the first that I will kill when I takeover your body and soul. We'll truly become one, sooner than we would had but you didn't follow the rules. Although, now that I think about it, I am rather glad you broke the rules. I can come out to play now. I. Can. Exist." It started laughing manically again, believing its plans to be close to succeeding._

        _Something unexpected occurred suddenly. Selena felt rage entering her body, it overtaking all emotions that she had been feeling up to that point. All at once and all of a sudden, she was so tired of this Doppelganger messing with her. She wasn't about to allow it to roam free and she definitely wasn't about to allow it to kill her sister or anyone at all for that matter; she wasn't going to allow it to pretend to be her. Suddenly, the sink faucet began shaking violently and the Doppelganger stopped laughing, turning its attention towards the sink as it got distracted by it._ _Seconds later, water sprayed up into the air from the faucet and it drenched the Selena lookalike. It growled in anger as it turned its glare towards Selena, unamused and angry that Selena had somehow bypassed its hold against her. Immediately, Selena knew what to do and she raised her hand. She could feel power flowing throughout her body and the water that was dripping off the Doppelganger was beginning to freeze up. As the entity protested greatly, not wanting to be sent away so easily when it had been doing so well, Selena rolled her eyes at it. "You creatures never learn. You should not monologue in mist of a confrontation." The Doppelganger let out a scream before it was completely frozen. Selena stood up quickly and with a spinning kick, she shattered the ice sculptured entity. She knew it wasn't dead and that it would be back eventually to bother her again but at least now, perhaps she'd wake up from this mess…_

        Selena's eyes shot open and immediately, she squinted them because of the bright lights of the hospital room. When her eyes became adjusted to the lighting, she glanced around the room without moving a muscle. She smiled weakly as she spotted not only Riley but Dean and Sam, too. The three of them were on two separate laptops, assumingly researching something (Selena is assuming this that something to do with her or something else entirely, like boredom). "...Hey…" she greeted quietly, her throat dry. Immediately, all three hunters looked at her and they all stopped what they were doing, moving to Selena's bed quickly with worried smiles on their faces. None of them said a word, the three just wrapping their arms around her as a group. The group was a whole again...

        A short while later, after Selena had been checked on by Doctor Kjellberg (Dr. Sexy) and Miss Hot Nurse (Dean  _and_ Riley both checked her out, although both of them argued with each other about it when they caught one another staring at the woman), a conversation ensued between the hunters once they were alone with one another. However, beforehand, while the doctor and the nurse were still within the room, they had to lie about the blood and scratches, Dean being the one to claim that Selena had panicked when she woke up, pulling her stitches and scratching herself in said panic; because of this, Selena had to stay not only that very day (it was only slightly pass one-in-the-morning) but the following day additionally, just so that it wouldn't happen again. Anyways, the conversation between the hunters probably would've began with someone asking Selena about what happened in her unconscious state but Dean spoke up first about something slightly different and somewhat on that topic. "I'm surprised you survived the crash. Your wounds hadn't exactly been  _non_  life threatening." Selena's wounds were pretty bad, compared to the ones that Riley obtained in the wreck.

        Selena smiled slightly as she stared at him. She almost giggled when Riley smacked Dean on his shoulder, complaining about him being so straightforward about something like that. "I merely survived because of two things, the first being that Riley saved me and the second being that I am not entirely human, as I have informed you before. I may be able to die like regular humans but I  _am_  still a bit hard to kill. I can obtain quite a bit of damage before I can become one with the deceased. My wounds, they will additionally heal a bit faster than the wounds of other humans. You have witnessed this before in our previous hunts." Any wounds that she had obtained in those hunts, they had healed up just days before the wounds of the brothers and her sister had healed up.

        Dean nodded in acknowledgement but he didn't say another word on the matter. Instead, Sam spoke up this time around. He was smiling happily at Selena, happy to see her awake and as bright as she always was. "I'm glad you're still around, Lena. All of us are." Once again, he had called her by a nickname and this time, she spoke nothing of it as she smiled back at him. Riley cracked a smile at hearing the nickname and Dean had looked over at Sam, an eyebrow raised. Knowing Dean, he'd probably misinterpret it for something else entirely, like Sam having a crush on Selena or something.

        Riley's smile turned into a frown as she spoke up now, getting right to the point. "As much as I hate to ruin a lovely moment, I want to say something about what happened and I want to ask a question about something else that followed, if you catch my drift." She looked down at her hands as she shifted on her feet slightly. "I'm...not sure if you had heard me while you were out cold, but I don't mind repeating myself, just this once. I'm really, really goddamn sorry for not listening to you. I regret that so damn much. Not only did I cause you to get hurt and for whatever to happen to you while you were unconscious, I also got somebody killed like you warned me against. Because of me being the bitch that I am when I'm pissed off, I got an innocent man killed and it's entirely my fault. Never in this lifetime will I ever forgive myself for putting your life at risk because of something stupid." Hearing Selena whisper an 'okay' and 'I forgive you', Riley looked up and locked eyes with her. She cleared her throat and rubbed her eyes that were getting teary. "Now that I've got that out of the way, again, could you, um, tell us what the fuck happened in that mind of yours while you were out? What the hell caused those marks to appear on your body?"

        "Doppelganger," Selena answered after several seconds, slightly hesitate to inform all of them of it. "It had been a Doppelganger. My own, to be more specific." Never, never had she thought that she'd be telling them this so soon. She honestly didn't think she would and yet, here she was. Later in life, she had planned on informing them of the Doppelganger, if it were to become unbearable or too much stronger than herself, but with what had happened, she really needed to inform them of it now, just in case it were to come back and just in case it were to takeover her body when it did. She wanted them to be ready for it when it came, whenever that would be.

        The reactions of the three hunters in front of Selena were various; Dean seemed confused about it, Riley seemed shocked, and Sam seemed shocked, yet interested in hearing more. "You mean...?" Sam moved closer slightly, his arms crossed as he stared down at Selena. "You mean that an  _evil_  manifestation of yourself was attacking you from within your mind?" Selena nodded and Sam hummed. "Huh. That's new." Indeed, that was very new. None of the lures about Doppelgangers mentioned it manifesting in someone's mind. Normally, it appeared outside the body, not within it, and occasionally, the Doppelganger was a spirit that brought bad luck upon someone. And on other occasions, a Doppelganger was just some human that happened to look like oneself, kinda like with Juliet and Selena looking alike.

        Dean shook his head, unable to grasp the reveal from Selena. "That doesn't make a damn lick of sense. Doppelgangers manifest outside the body, not within it." That was exactly correct, but clearly, it hadn't been impossible. Just a rarity.

        Selena sighed as she slightly shook her head. "Well, this one did. It is... It is very different. From the second I met it, I knew it was different. It is not just some entity or another version of me, an opposite of me. This Doppelganger, it  _is_  me. Or it is, at least, something that I could become if I am to go down its path. It visits me sometimes, in my nightmares. It shows me things, horrible things. It showed me... It showed you three as corpses on the ground and it had told me that I was the cause of it happening... I do not wish for that to be a reality. I had not planned on telling you about it, but after what it did, after it showed me that it was able to harm me and that it could easily takeover my body, my soul, I had to inform all of you of it. I was only able to regain control, able to awaken because it had pissed me off by saying it would kill Riley first. I broke free of its hold and I was able to use my powers to freeze it, and here we are." She shook her head again, looking down at her hands. "All of that rage that I had felt when doing what I did, I never want to feel that again... I do not enjoy being angry... It makes me feel like..." She didn't finish her sentence but the others knew what she meant. That rage made her feel like she was becoming like the Doppelganger.

        Dean and Sam both looked like they didn't know what to say, like they didn't know how to comfort Selena. Riley, however, seemed to know exactly what to say as she picked up Selena's pendant from off the chair (it had been placed back on the chair; the angel wings from the necklace that was long gone had been attached to the chain of the pendant, Sam having done that when he had the jewelry in his hands). "You won't go down that path, Selena. Not with us here to help you through this. We're glad you told us this. Together, we can find a way to get rid of it. You are  _nothing_  like that thing and you never will be." She walked up to the hospital bed and she leaned over, placing the chain of the pendant around Selena's neck and she fastened it where it belonged. "You'll always be our little innocent Selena," Riley finished in a whisper as she moved away, smiling slightly at Selena. Selena got teary-eyed as she grinned and she glanced towards the brothers, both of them nodding in agreement with what Riley said.

        That conversation didn't continue on any further, Selena and the others no longer wishing to speak about the Doppelganger for the time being. None of them liked the idea of an entity, a future entity lookalike of Selena, being around. Dean, Riley, and Sam definitely didn't like the fact that the Doppelganger was tormenting Selena, and they hated that it had been tormenting her for a while. All of them vowed, maybe not aloud but definitely to themselves, that they would get rid of the Doppelganger someday and hopefully before it could do anything else to Selena. As the night continued onward, Dean and Sam fell asleep in the two chairs that were within the room. Selena stayed awake because she didn't wish to sleep, her eyes on the ceiling and she didn't bother to question why Riley suddenly left the room in the middle of the night...

        Around almost 3 am within the hospital, soft moans were coming from within a supply closet in that hospital. Inside of that closet, Riley was bent over with her hands pressed against the wall firmly. Her pants and panties were lowered to be just below her bare ass, and her turtleneck was slightly pulled up, revealing her abdomen and the bandage on her side. Standing behind her with his pants and boxers to his ankles was Doctor Kjellberg, his hands firmly grasping Riley's hips as he thrusted his organ into her wet nether region. The soft moans were escaping his lips while light pants were escaping Riley's mouth, the two of them continuing onward with their semi-rough sex (it couldn't be entirely rough because of Riley's stitches). This wasn't the first round of sex that the two were going through, this being the third and perhaps the final one. Doctor Kjellberg had released within Riley twice throughout their nonstop sexual intercourse (Riley was using birth control so no condom was needed, even though the risk of pregnancy was still there) but Riley hadn't reached orgasm once, her having to fake one each time Kjellberg reached one; Riley was enjoying the sex quite a lot, her being a huge lover of sex and one night stands, but she just couldn't reach orgasm and she wasn't sure why.

        When the rounds of sex ended and both of them were redressed, Doctor Kjellberg left the supply closet after informing Riley that her end of the deal was done. Riley didn't leave the closet just yet, leaning against the wall after she fixed her sex hair. She had enjoyed doing that, having been happy to do such a thing because it had originally meant having more time to help Selena (they didn't need the extra time anymore since Selena was up) but Riley was entirely clueless as to why she couldn't release like the man had multiple times. Perhaps something was missing or maybe she hadn't enjoyed it as much as she had thought she did. Although, either way, Selena was awake and Riley had finished her end of the bargain, so everything was alright in the world again. Riley grasped onto her damaged literal heart necklace and her eyes widened slightly when she immediately realized something. Usually, whenever she grabbed her necklace when something was bothering her, she could almost feel Brian's presence and she could feel the sparks that they once shared but now, she felt absolutely nothing. Her being clueless didn't last long after that occurrence; she had officially moved on from Brian unknowingly. Without a moment of hesitation, she ripped the chain of her necklace off and she dropped the damaged piece of jewelry onto the floor before she walked out of the closet. After all, what was the point of keeping the jewelry of a deceased lover when she had feelings for someone else...?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Trivia":
> 
> 1) So, now the Winchesters and Riley know about the Doppelganger. You thought it would take more chapters or even more books before that happened, but nope. Originally, that was the plan but then, I had the better idea of having the Doppelganger be the villain of the chapter instead of a Dream Sorceress. Just felt better to change it to this. It made more sense to me. Didn't work out very greatly, though. I regret most of this chapter (Added A/N: I regretted most of this chapter but not anymore. I'm content).
> 
> 2) We all have our terrible scenes and terrible chapters. This might be considered a terrible original chapter for half of you and a good chapter to the other half of you. To me, I didn't enjoy most of the scenes but I did like that one scene where Riley left the voicemail and the scenes within Selena's dreamland. Additionally, I love my remake of the ending of this chapter. That's all I like. I disliked everything else I wrote but it's all I had. I'm so sorry if you hate it. Please, don't leave me because of your dislike of it, if you dislike it. I'll do better next time! Promise!
> 
> 3) I'm gonna try my best to continue onward with this fanfiction series if nothing happens that'll cause me to lose my connection to the internet and if nothing causes me to lose interest in this lovely, wonderful fandom. Additionally, I thought about asking random questions to all of you to hear your thoughts but considering no one comments really and no one is actually really reading this, minus a few people, I chose not to do such.
> 
> 4) The next original chapter is, like, five chapters away and it's a co-written one, so it'll be loads better since I had help with making a better plot for an original chapter than this one was. God, why did I bother making this...? I should've just time skipped. Too late now (Added A/N: I'm actually a bit proud of this chapter now, but I still dislike some of the writing. That's just me, though).
> 
> 5) Sorry for the original rushed ending. I had planned for there to be a flashback to the conversation that was originally omitted out of this chapter but I decided to edit it in so that the ending wasn't as rushed. Hope you like the new ending better than it had been, which was like two paragraphs after the paragraph of Selena waking up. Much better now, though, right? Please, do stick around and stay tuned for the next chapter: Asylum. Yeah, I'm doing that episode. I actually quite like it a bit.


	14. Asylum

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Selena Grant and the Winchester brothers find themselves trapped within an abandoned asylum with a spirit that causes extreme rage within its victims. The good news is that most of them aren't affected by anything. The bad news is that one of them gets affected by the ghost's experiments from beyond the grave. On the bright side of things, Riley Piers doesn't have to deal with that mess because she is unable to do much while she has a cast on her leg, something that prevents her from running if she needed to do such. With that said, that means that Riley is stuck inside a motel while everyone else has all the fun with Mr. Ghosty. Yay for her luck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Original and Unoriginal Content/Dialogue, Errors of Any Kind, Long Chapter Ahead, Unoriginal Not-So-Important Character Introductions, Difficulty With Some Descriptions of Character Appearances/Scenery, Possibility of Incorrect Information/Out-of-Character Moments, Low/High Possibility of Unrealistic/Realistic Actions or Reactions, Violence, Slight Gore, Scenes From Episode Are Missing, Changes Were Made to Episode (Placement of Buildings or Objects May Be Different to Better Fit Within Chapter, Etc.), Lack of Riley Within This Chapter (You'll Find Out Why Within Said Chapter), "Bonding Moments" (Been A While, It Feels Like It Anyways; Technically, The Moments Aren't Moments But They Can Be Seen As Such) Between Certain Characters, Effy Dialogue From Original Characters (I Did My Best, But It's Hard To Give Them Original Lines In Some Episodes), Final Scene Is Mostly Without Dialogue (Action Mostly)
> 
> And now, we're back into scripted territory! That didn't last very long, with the original stuff. No need to worry, we still have two more original chapters to create for this season and I think they will be very enjoyable. One of them is a co-written one that is actually written in another character's point of view within a different Supernatural fanfic. It's not out yet but I will inform you when my friend's version is uploaded so that you can see what it looks like from her character's perspective and then, you'll eventually see my version on here (it'll be after Route 666; not too far away). But, by this point in time, I believe I may reach that chapter before my friend gets to where she'll be uploading her version of it. She's a busy person, after all. Can't blame her. She made it past 1,000 favorites for that story (it's on Quotev) and I am proud of her. Anyways, hope you enjoy this chapter and I'll see you whenever I can update again. I did my very best with this chapter and I will continue doing my best with chapters to come. It's getting a bit tougher for me, but I think I can manage okay right now. Well, peace.
> 
> Nina Dobrev as Selena Grant  
> Hayden Panettiere as Riley Piers

_Is someone else in me?_  
_Just waiting to break free?_  
_My world keeps twisting - still, it's twisting without an end in sight_  
_You laugh cause you can't see beyond the black and white_

_(Unravel : AmaLee)_

* * *

**~April 6th, 2006; Pascagoula, Mississippi~**

Two days. It merely took  _two_  whole days before Selena Grant was allowed to leave the hospital with Riley Piers and the Winchester brothers, all because the doctors and nurses had been worried about Selena going into another panicked fit that Dean Winchester lied to them about. Well, at the time, Dean couldn't necessarily tell them the truth about the causes of Selena's newest claw mark wounds, so he said that she did them herself and the one extra day at the hospital was the result of that false statement. During Selena's additional stay there at the hospital, some questions were asked that  _shouldn't_  had been asked. Well, it wasn't really questions but more so just  _one_  question and it was about how Selena's wounds were healing faster than they should've, those very wounds healing much faster than Riley's wounds and Selena previously had  _worse_  wounds than Riley. Of course, Selena wasn't one to lie, least not very often, so she said the only thing that she could say that  _wouldn't_  freak out non-supernatural believers; she just told the professionals that she was merely a faster healer than other persons.

        The stretched truth was believed and Selena was finally released with only minor injuries; she wore a cast on her right arm ('cause it remained broken, it being one thing that hadn't healed entirely just yet), she had no more stitches on her body because they had been removed (they were no longer needed), she no longer had a concussion, and lastly, she had bandages over the almost healed up cuts on her neck, legs, left arm, upper and lower right arm, forehead, and cheek because while she didn't need stitches anymore, she did need to keep the bandages over the cuts (claw marks included) so that no problems could be had (infection prevention in a sense, just to be sure) before the cuts were fully healed. While Selena had been stuck within the hospital, Riley had took the liberty of ordering clothing online (and quite a few of those clothes were replacing ones that had been lost, so it was like they hadn't been lost after all). So, when Selena headed out of the hospital with Riley by her side as they began to approach the Impala, she was sporting a blue leather jacket (the right arm of it was rolled over her cast) with blue denim jeans, a blue shirt with white lace at the collar, some white shoes with blue logos on the side of them (something she had wore a few times when she had the original clothing), and around her neck, her lovely pendant accessory (that had angel wings attached to the chain now) laid above her chest. Riley, on the other hand, was sporting a blue leather jacket, a blue tanktop, blue jeans, black-white-and-blue shoes, and her undamaged crescent ring that Selena gave to her years ago. Additionally, Riley was sporting a cast on her right leg (so her right pants leg was rolled up to be above it, just because of reasons) and bandages were located on both her forehead and her cheek. On the bright side of things, she no longer had a concussion, no longer had sore arms, and the stitches in her side could be removed two days later than the current day (within two days, she could be without stitches).

        The four hunters headed to a motel that three of them (Selena obviously excluded originally) had been staying at for the past few days. First thing that happened when they got there as a complete group, Riley asked the brothers what they had been doing before they had gotten her voicemail and boy, did Sam Winchester tell a story to the half-sisters. Sam told them all about how he and Dean had gone back to their childhood home in Kansas because a Poltergeist was haunting the family that lived within the house. He, however, never mentioned the part where he had dreams about what was going to happen to the family, that being why they had gone back home in the first place. Instead of revealing that, he lied and stated that a friend of the family had informed them of what was happening; the only reason why he was lying was because he didn't want the sisters to be involved just yet, 'least not until he was sure about what the hell was happening to himself. Additionally, he did tell them that they saw their mother, Mary Winchester, and she had been the one to vanquish the Poltergeist, vanquishing herself in the process to save them (the brothers) both. In reaction to the story of that hunt, Riley praised Mary for being a badass spirit while Selena hugged both brothers (although, her hug with Dean was more awkward than her hug with Sam, Dean being the reason why it was awkward 'cause he didn't like dealing with emotional moments). With that hunting story being revealed, the next thing they did was something very expected of them; they began looking for leads to John Winchester.

        For the next three-to-four hours, the four hunters spent all of their time trying to find some sort of clue or lead to John. Unfortunately and expectedly, none of them found anything useful. Dean was sitting at a table, flipping through his father's journal to see if he could find anything in it that could possibly help them out. Sitting across from him at the table, Riley was on Dean's laptop and she was searching for anything that lead to John, and she was searching all over the damn United States for any sort of hunt that involved John, but none of the possible leads seemed to link to the man, though she did write them down as things they should eventually check out because they're hunters. Sitting on the red-sheet bed that was closest to Dean and Riley, Sam was speaking on his cellphone with someone that could possibly know where John was. On the opposite bed from him, Selena was laying on her stomach and she was on Sam's laptop, searching for any John Doe findings across the country just in case the Winchester father was one of them; it was possible that the man had gotten hurt or something so it was better safe than sorry to, at least, check things out about John Doe appearances.

        "No, Dad was in California last we heard from him," Sam spoke into his cellphone. "We just thought… He comes to you for 'munitions." He released a sigh. "Maybe you've seen him in the last few weeks. Just, call us if you hear anything. Thanks." He removed the phone from his ear and he hung up on the man he had been speaking to. He (the man, Caleb) had been the third person that Sam had called in search for a lead to John and it had ended up the same way, with nothing new being learnt. Sam wasn't about to give up just yet, though. He needed to find John. It was part one of his mission for revenge, his mission for vengeance. With all these lack of leads, he had a long list of complaints in his head that he wanted to voice aloud. Those complaints could burst from his mouth at any given moment. He was losing his patience with all this nonsense.

        Dean didn't bother looking up from the journal that he was flipping and skimming through. "Caleb hasn't heard from him?" he asked calmly. He wasn't on Sam's level of frustration, not just yet anyways. Although, he was getting to that point because he couldn't entirely make out what half of the things were inside the journal. Half of those things were written in a rush and the other half was written in a semi-rush, making that half more readable and understandable for Dean but none of it was helpful. There were zero leads to anything that John could be working on right that moment. So, the four of them were still stuck at a dead end.

        "Nope. Neither has Jefferson or Pastor Jim," Sam replied dully. He stared at the wall that was straight ahead of him, his phone in between both of his hands. There wasn't anyone else he could call. 'Least, he couldn't think of anyone else that could possibly had seen John recently. Perhaps Dean was having better luck with the journal or perhaps Riley was having better luck with her case researching. He hoped that Selena wasn't having any luck with her research because John was more useful alive than dead and he definitely was more useful healthy than injured. Sam glanced over at Selena and he was going to ask her how the search was going but considering that Selena was closing the laptop and that she wasn't really saying a word of information, he could assume correctly that Selena found nothing at all. By this point, it was up to either Riley or Dean to find something useful or their time researching for shit was wasted. At least, Selena found nothing so that meant that John was probably alive and okay somewhere. They just needed to find out where the hell he was.

        Riley, looking away from the laptop that she was using, released an irritated sigh. She could tell that Sam was on the verge of exploding from frustration and she really didn't want to hear any complaints from him right now. "I don't know any of those men, nor do I wish to know them. Also, I can feel your frustration from here, Sam, and it's only a matter of time before you start complaining like the little bitch you are." She looked at Sam and he looked at her in return, except he was glaring at her. "We'll find your father. Eventually. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, and maybe not the next day, but we'll…" She shrugged a shoulder as she looked away from him, cutting off her own words before she continued them seconds later. "We'll  _probably_  find him eventually." She lowered the screen of the laptop, letting out a sigh. "I've got nothing, by the way. Well, that's not entirely true. I've got leads to multiple cases, but they aren't exactly things that John could be working on right now. Meaning, they don't sound like hunting cases that would last months and from what y'all told me about John, it sounded to me like he's on a mission that has yet ended." She actually had her suspicions about that and she was wondering if she was correct with her assumption that John was on the same hunt that Sam was personally on, the hunt for the creature that killed Mary and Jess (Jessica Moore).

        Sam released a sigh upon hearing Riley admit that she found nothing that lead to John. Additionally, her not-so-confident reassurance did absolutely nothing for him. He looked over at Dean, Dean being his last hope for some kind of clue. "What about the journal? Any leads in there?" Sam was very, very close to losing his marbles. They needed a lead, damn it. How could they ever find their father if they didn't have any damn leads? How could they find that creature without any damn leads? Dead end after dead end was all they have ever gotten with this and Sam was getting damn sick of it. Sooner or later, they'd find out something, at least. Right? But damn, it was taking too long. Far too long.

        Dean shook his head ever so slightly before Sam had even finished asking the question. He did, however, additionally give a verbal response once the question was fully asked. "No, same as last time I looked. Nothing I can make out." He released a chuckle seconds later, a hint of a grin on his face. "I love the guy, but I swear, he writes like friggin' Yoda." He turned to the next page of the journal, never looking up from it. He wasn't about to give up either but for a whole different reason. While Sam wanted to find John so that they could hunt for the creature together, Dean just wanted his father back. Although, as much as he wanted to see his father again, he wouldn't hesitate to do whatever the man wanted if John were to ever contact them. As in, if the man wanted them to do something, he'd do it with no questions asked.

        "Yoda?" Selena questioned as she looked towards Dean's location. She had no clue who that was. She wasn't exactly a television and movie watching kind of female. She has seen few things, but not very many things, so some film or show references would definitely escape her more often than not.

        Dean glanced up from the journal, but he didn't look surprised to hear that come out of Selena's mouth. He was still very much aware of the fact that Selena didn't watch much television, so he knew that she was out of touch with the film industry quite a bit. Riley looked over towards Selena's location as Dean glanced back down towards the journal and she wasn't surprised as well, considering this was her younger sibling and she knew her sister very well, for the most part. Sam, on the other hand, looked very surprised and he stared at Selena in disbelief. "You've never seen  _Star_   _Wars_?" he questioned her. How could she not have seen  _Star Wars_? Just how? Surely, Riley would had helped her get more in touch with the real world, right? He was aware of Selena's many years stuck within her mother's home, but he hadn't thought that she'd be that clueless to film references.

        "What's  _Star Wars_?" Selena questioned back, looking confused as she turned her attention towards Sam. She hadn't heard of the film series before. Riley had never mentioned it to her, nor did she ever see it on television, so she didn't know of its existence up until right this moment. Although, she was just assuming that it was a film or television show because of how Sam phrased his question. She became more confused when Sam continued to look at her with shock and surprise. Was  _Star Wars_  supposed to be something that she needed to know about? She didn't understand the concept of it with just those words alone. She didn't want to assume anything with only having those words in her head. What the hell was  _Star Wars_  and why wasn't anyone explaining what it was to her? Was it actually not that important after all? Now, she was getting even more confused about what it was and if it was important to know about or not.

        "I didn't see that one coming," Dean sarcastically remarked as he glanced up from the journal again, his eyes on Sam. "Did you, Sammy?" he questioned, a hint of a smirk on his face. Sam turned his head to look at Dean, glaring at him as he immediately corrected Dean like he usually tended to do (" _It's Sam_."). And it wasn't Sam's fault that he assumed she had watched the movies before. Oh, wait, yeah it was. He needed to stop assuming shit. But he (Sam) could've sworn that Riley had shown Selena those movies. ...Would Selena even understand them, the movies, whenever she does finally watch them on her free time?

        Riley rubbed the side of her head as she leaned back against her chair. "Goddamn it," she muttered to herself. She recalled thinking about showing those films to Selena someday but she had forgotten all about it, until now. Hell, there were a lot of films and shows that she had wanted to show Selena but she always got sidetracked from doing so. "Someone remind me to tie her to a chair and make her watch a few of those films. That way, she can understand a few references for once in her life." Well, Selena did understand a few references, but those were for other movies and for a few television shows that happened to be animated, like  _Inuyasha_ (which Dean had also seen, unknownst to Sam and Riley).

        Sam seemed slightly alarmed by Riley words but he answered her slowly and hesitatingly. "I'll, um, I guess I'll remind you..." He glanced over at Selena to see what her reaction was but she was merely shaking her head slightly, with a smile on her face, as she stared at Riley for a moment before she looked away, sitting up on the bed at last so that she was no longer on her stomach. Sam shook his own head slightly as he pushed that portion of the conversation out of thought. He went back towards the original topic of the conversation, which was finding John. That was more important than anything else. "You know, maybe we should call the Feds. File a missing person's." He was getting desperate now and quite obviously at that.

        Dean immediately looked up from the journal entirely, giving Sam a stern look. "We've talked about this. Dad would be pissed if we put the Feds on his tail." Hell, any hunter would be pissed to have Feds on their tail. Dean had been temporarily pissed about the Feds being on his tail, back when they were dealing with a Shapeshifter that was hurting people while taking his form. Additionally, unknown to both brothers, Riley and Selena had actually been on the radar of the Feds at one point, but that madness died down within a year after Emily Swan, Brian Alderson, Ryan Piers, and Christi Moore died; the siblings were assumed to have been the ones to murder all four humans when evidence of their involvement was found at both crime scenes, but with no leads of any kind to point towards their whereabouts, the Feds shutdown the case (thank God for the girls being careful with what they did as hunters).

        Sam stared straight at Dean, openly admitting how he was feeling about this. Kind of. "I don't care anymore." He was desperate to find their father. He was desperate to find some leads to the thing that killed his girlfriend. He was getting sick and tired of being patient with all this waiting and researching. They needed to find both of them, so that Sam could move on with his life already. That was the only reason why he was currently hunting; he just wanted to find John and the creature, so that he could basically tie up loose ends before quitting the hunting gig once again. However, he wasn't sure if he could even go back to the way things had been before Dean reentered his life because things certainly wouldn't be the same since Jess was dead and gone, and he'd be risking someone else dying because of him, possibly. Perhaps he was stuck with this gig forever now.

        Riley side glanced at Sam before rolling her eyes, turning her head to look at him fully. "No fucking duh, Sam. You made that shit clear about three hours ago." So, basically, ever since they started researching through everything for possible clues, Riley had been aware that Sam didn't care about any consequences that could occur. Suddenly, Dean's cellphone began to ring and it caused Riley to jump slightly. The ringing ringtone wasn't as loud as it should've been, but that was because the cellphone was within a duffel bag. Even so, it had startled Riley. "Goddamn, that fucking phone," she swore in a growl, clenching her fists for a second before relaxing as much as she could manage. She watched as Dean stood up from his chair, watching as he crossed the room to approach the bed that Selena was sitting on. Dean began to dig through his belongings, searching for that damn ringing cellphone.

        Sam either ignored Riley's remark or he pretended that he hadn't heard her. Either way, he just simply carried on with what he was saying. Well, he carried on with what he had wanted to say before he had been kind of interrupted. "After all that happened back in Kansas... I mean, he should've been there, Dean. You said so yourself. You tried to call him and nothing," Sam stated, not really including the sisters into the conversation. He sighed and he slapped his hands against his thighs, resting his hands upon them as he shook his head slightly. Why hadn't John come when they needed him? Why hadn't he contacted them?

        Selena, who had been distracted by Dean and his search for his cellphone, looked over at Sam and she blinked a few times, thinking over Sam's words for a moment. She listened as Dean aggressively agreed with Sam's words as he paid more attention to finding his cell ( _"I know!")_. Selena spoke up a few seconds after Dean's little outburst, her eyes still on Sam. "Sam," she began, making Sam look at her in return. "Perhaps your father is busy with another hunt of some kind. That could be his reasoning for not keeping contact with you and Dean." Sam huffed, shrugging slightly as he looked away from her. Selena frowned, continuing to stare at him. That could've gone better...

        Dean rummaged through his duffel bag, grumbling to himself as he struggled to find his cellphone that continued ringing. "Where the hell is my cellphone?" he mumbled grumpily, beginning to take things out of his duffel bag because his phone was definitely inside it, somewhere. He could hear it as clear as day, but he couldn't freaking see it anywhere. Did it turn invisible or some shit? Maybe the phone was hiding underneath his clothes. Maybe it was hiding  _within_  his clothes. Well, wherever it was hiding, it was definitely, one-hundred percent inside that damn duffel bag. Probably.

        Riley cracked a smile, amused by Dean's antics. She wasn't even looking at the man and yet, she was very amused by what was occurring to him. She was loving his frustration. She didn't bother glancing his way as she lifted up her brand new cellphone that Dean had bought her. Her old cellphone had been damaged slightly because of the wreck and instead of continuing to use it, she had requested a new one and she, like a spoiled child, had gotten a new one from Dean to replace it, just like she wanted. "Apparently, it's up your ass along with that stick," she remarked loudly, her amused smile remaining as she messed with her cellphone. She had a feeling that her words would get under his skin a bit, but that's what she wanted. Saying rude shit to him was becoming far more natural to her, almost second nature to her, and she enjoyed it as much as she enjoyed the fun moments between the two of them.

        Dean turned his head towards her, glaring at her as he remained frustrated and unamused. Now really wasn't the time for her to be messing with him. No time was the time for her to mess with him actually. "Ha, ha. You're so freakin' hilarious, Riley." Dean rolled his eyes when Riley gave him a thumbs up, her still not looking at him, and he went back to searching through his duffel for his cellphone, which had finally stopped ringing. Although, the silent phone was a bit unfortunate; finding his phone was slightly harder now without it ringing but he'd find it, eventually. It would be nice if he had a little bit of help, though.

        "You know, he could be dead for all we know," Sam commented from almost out of nowhere. His head was looking down towards the floor but he looked over at Dean a few seconds after he had finished his comment. His comment hadn't been out of nowhere because he was a long way from shutting the hell up with complaints and what ifs. He wasn't gonna be quiet any time soon and the other three were gonna have to deal with it, apparently. When Sam's comment had came out of his mouth, Riley had dropped her cellphone onto the table and she closed the laptop in front of her all the way so that she could rest her head on it while she groaned in annoyance; would Sam just shut up already? Selena continued to frown, never having stopped because this wasn't exactly a great moment between them right now; that and considering that she hadn't found any John Does that were injured or deceased, she thought that Sam had been aware of the fact that it was unlikely that John was dead.

        Dean, after hearing Sam's comment, immediately stopped looking for his cellphone and he immediately looked up from the duffel bag, looking towards Sam instead. How dare Sam suggest that. "Don't say that!" he exclaimed. That's something he really didn't want to hear. That's something he didn't even wanna think about. He didn't like having that sort of thought in his head. "He's not dead," he continued, no longer speaking as loudly. "He's-He's..." He gestured towards nothing in particular as he glanced away from Sam, picking up his duffel bag. He didn't know exactly what to say, but he didn't want to believe in the possibility that the man could be deceased.

        Sam stared up at Dean from where he was sitting, watching Dean's movements with slight disbelief because of Dean's denial of the possibility. At least he (Sam) was being realistic about this; hunters tend to die during hunts, so it wasn't unlikely for their father to have died during one. "He's what?" Sam questioned. "He's hiding? He's  _busy_?" If not dead, what the hell was their father doing? Was he hiding from them? Was he hiding from something? Was he too busy with a hunt? Was he too busy doing nothing of importance? Was he too busy hiding? Was he too busy being dead? One of the three choices (dead, busy, or hiding) had to be the correct assumption. So, what if Selena hadn't found any John Doe persons that matched his father's description? Maybe the man had been killed somewhere and his body hadn't been found.

        Riley, head still laying on Dean's laptop, groaned once more. She was getting real tired of Sam's shit. She really was. "Didn't you hear Selena's suggestion earlier? Maybe he  _is_  busy. With a hunt. Because hunters go on hunts, you know, just in case you've forgotten that already." Sam turned his attention away from Dean and he glared at Riley. Riley lifted her head and she looked towards Sam in return, sending a glare right back at him. Two could play at that game, buddy. "Don't you glare at me, Sam Winchester. You've been on plenty of hunts that have lasted a while. Your father could be on a hunt that's lasting months. So, just chill the fuck out already." She couldn't possibly understand his feelings towards having a missing, or neglectful, father but she could understand his impatience a tad bit. She had her own moments where she wanted things to be sped along, but this situation right here, the waiting and searching for John, was something that honestly required patience or things wouldn't get done as fast. She just wished that Sam could realize that.

        Selena, from where she remained on the opposite bed from Sam, nodded in agreement to Riley's words. "That truly could be correct, Sam. He may really be busy with a hunt. Perhaps it is the same hunt that made him vanish in the first place." She was beginning to have some suspicions about the hunt like Riley was, but she didn't voice her opinion on that entirely. Silently, both sisters felt that John was on the same personal mission as Sam was, except if they were honest to themselves, John was probably trying to avenge Mary while Sam was only trying to avenge Jess right now. Sam didn't bother looking at Selena as he let out a groan, disliking that he had been double-teamed by the sisters. He lifted his hands off of his thighs, cellphone still in hand, and he placed his elbows on his thighs instead, placing his head in his hands as he slouched over slightly, his phone brushing against the side of his head. This was a pain in the ass for all of them...

        It was truly a miracle when Dean finally located his cellphone. The damn thing had been hiding inside a pair of his pants, just like he had slightly suspected it to be. He flicked open his cellphone and he stared down at it, looking at the text that he had received. He had gotten it from an unknown number and the message appeared to be coordinates to something. He scoffed to himself, speaking quietly seconds later. "I don't believe it." Speak of the devil and the devil shall appear; in this case, speak about John and he'll send a text message from an unknown number. Sam lifted his head from his hands, looking at Dean in interest. Selena turned her attention towards Dean, looking up at him from the bed that he was standing in front of. Riley raised an eyebrow and she stood up from her chair, approaching the beds and she sat down on the same bed that Sam was sitting on. "It's, uh..." He didn't look up to see if the others were listening to him, instead just plopping down on the bed beside Selena as he kept his eyes on the message he received. "It's a text message. It's coordinates." He glanced up from the phone, looking over at Sam as Sam gulped silently. Dean, then, glanced over at Riley and Selena before he picked up Sam's laptop (which was on the bed 'cause Selena had been using it earlier) and he opened it, almost immediately beginning to type on it.

        "You think Dad was texting us?" Sam questioned. He felt halfway excited and halfway annoyed; excited because maybe this was a lead to their father and annoyed because the man had only sent them a text instead of calling them or meeting up with them in person. He was also expecting disappointment because it was likely that their father had other plans in mind for Dean and himself (Sam), that meaning that perhaps John continued to have no intention of telling the brothers where he was located.

        Dean kept his eyes on the laptop, typing away as he answered Sam. "He's given us coordinates before." Indeed, that was true. And those coordinates from last time had lead them straight towards a hunt for a Wendigo. Additionally, those coordinates had lead them to the Grant-Piers half-sisters. So, in a way, thanks to their father, the two of them had officially met Riley and Selena for the first time during that exact hunting case. Now, here they were, the four of them working as a team to locate John. Not only that but the four of them had become friends with one another, close friends at that. Nothing was going to separate them this time. Except for Riley's leg that was in a cast; if they end up on another hunt, Riley would have to be left out.

        "The man can barely work a  _toaster_ , Dean." Sam stood up from the bed and he began to pace around the motel room. Riley rolled her eyes as she watched him. Selena, on the other hand, continued watching Dean. After a moment, Sam stopped his pacing and he looked towards Dean again, placing his hands on his hip as he became disbelieving again. Maybe this text message wasn't from John after all. Maybe it was from someone else, some other hunter that happened to have their number. He had gotten his hopes up slightly for nothing. It couldn't had been John. It just couldn't have been him that messaged Dean.

        Riley huffed as she laid down on the bed, placing her arms behind her head. "Oh, that's just lovely," she remarked dully, responding to what Sam had said moments ago. "Juliet can barely work a  _refrigerator_. Small world." The sad part was that she wasn't kidding. Juliet had came over to her home once in the past to see Selena and she had been confused about what the fridge even was for. Quickly, Riley had learnt that Juliet didn't have a refrigerator back at her home, so Riley was stuck to imagining that Selena had grew up on fast food before she moved in with Riley's family. That or canned food. Sam looked towards her, giving her a weird look. Riley rolled her eyes again. "Hey, if you aren't gonna shut the hell up with the complaints, then I'm allowed to ramble about random shit."

        Selena, without looking at Riley, commented softly. "Relax, Riley." She could feel Riley's continuing frustration. Sooner or later, Riley was likely to explode like Sam was close to doing himself. However, there wasn't much Selena could do to prevent that from occurring. Simple words wouldn't keep anyone from going off into a fit. Actions could probably prevent it, but certainly not words. Not in this moment anyways. When frustration or anger isn't too bad, that's when words would work out. However, when frustration or anger was at its peak, words were useless and actions would be the only thing that would get someone to chill the fuck out. Selena wasn't one to get physical unless extremely threatened by something so she wasn't gonna put any actions to the test to make Riley cool off forcefully. She'd just have to deal with Riley's anger and frustration for now, like the brothers were.

        "Oh, just shut up, Selena," Riley rudely replied. "I don't want to hear any of your words of wisdom today." She could be angry and frustrated if she wanted to be, and she was in no mood to hear anything that Selena wanted to say, if she (Selena) even had wanted to say more anyways. Riley was stuck with an uncomfortable cast for another couple of weeks and it was making her more irritable than usual. Standing was annoying, walking around was just as annoying, sitting down was uncomfortable because it just felt weird, and even laying down was uncomfortable because that also felt weird. She hated that damn cast. Even if she didn't have a cast on, she still would've found Sam's complaining to be annoying as shit. Only difference was that she was more aggressive about it with a cast on than she probably would had been without a cast; she was more likely to become easily angered or annoyed, thanks to her injury.

        "Hey!" Dean looked over at Riley, an angry look on his face. He wasn't sure what came over him, but he knew for certain that he didn't like the way that Riley had spoken to Selena when Selena hadn't done anything wrong to deserve that behavior. "Just because you're in a bad mood, doesn't mean that you should speak to Selena like that." Riley looked at him with surprise, her eyes wide from being scolded by Dean. As quickly as her eyes had widened, they narrowed and she looked away from him, mumbling a 'whatever' under her breath. Dean looked towards Selena, just to see if she was okay, and she half-smiled at him; Riley's words and attitude hadn't phased her entirely because she had expected it. Dean looked at Sam afterwards, addressing him now. "Sam, this is good news. It means the man is okay, or alive at least." With that, Dean looked back at the laptop, typing on it again as he searched for something else, something that went along with the coordinates.

        "Well, was there a number on the caller ID?" Sam questioned Dean. When Dean answered ( _"It said unknown."_ ), Sam continued his questioning. "Well, where do the coordinates point?" While Sam couldn't assume that it wasn't John that contacted them, he couldn't assume that it was him either. Additionally, either way, Sam was kind of curious about where the coordinates lead. The hunter within him was aching for another hunt, aching for more monsters to slay. He had been worrying about Selena the past few days. He needed something to do now that didn't involve him worrying about someone he cared about. Although, he would probably worry about someone regardless.

        "That's the interesting part. Rockford, Illinois," Dean answered, no longer typing on the laptop since his search was complete. Riley and Sam both raised an eyebrow, both openly wondering why it was so interesting. Selena, on the other hand, already knew about the research that Dean had been doing because she had been watching him the entire time, her having been looking over his shoulder while Sam and Riley complained about two different things. Dean continued on with his speaking as he stared at the article displayed on the laptop screen. "I checked the local Rockford paper. Take a look at this." Dean turned the laptop towards Sam and Riley slightly, both of them moving to be closer; Sam strolled back over to the beds and Riley had sat up on the bed that she had been laying on, both of them leaning closely to the screen. Selena didn't make a move to lean forward to see the screen because she had already seen it; she hadn't actually read the article  _but_  she did read the headline and she had figured that Dean would summarize the article for everyone anyways, regardless of if they read it themselves or not. There was that  _and_  there was additionally the fact that Selena didn't like the idea of murder, so she had wanted to avoid knowing what the article said exactly, for as long as she could. On the screen on the laptop, a picture of a Caucasian male police officer in his uniform was covering half the article. "This cop, Walter Kelly, comes home from his shift, shoots his wife, then puts the gun in his mouth, blows his brains out. Earlier that night, Kelly and his partner responded to a call at the Roosevelt Asylum," Dean summarized.

        "I do not particularly like where this reason of interest is heading…" Selena remarked quietly, shifting on the bed so that her back was against the headboard. Sure, she had read the headline, but hearing the full story about what the article said had kind of frightened her. And the fact that an Asylum was mentioned, she already had a ton of reasons why she probably wasn't gonna love this new possible hunt of theirs. Reason number one was that this asylum probably had spirits within it and crazy ones at that; she didn't like that at all because the fear of spirits was still there, just was mostly hidden since that last time she encountered a ghost.

        "Yeah, I don't like it either, Lena," Riley commented, glancing at Selena for a second before she looked back at the screen. She had see the article in the journal the other day. She knew that the brothers and Selena would have to go inside the Asylum themselves to solve this new problem. That wasn't exactly settling well with her because one, Selena wouldn't have her around this time for definite protection and two, this hunt probably involved spirits and she was aware that Selena was still afraid of them. Also, she didn't exactly like the idea of being stuck in a motel alone while everyone was out risking their lives to save other lives. That was so unfair. All the fault was within her broken, healing leg. She'd probably have to sit out on several more hunting cases as well before she could do anything again. It really, truly was completely unfair, goddamn it. She was gonna die of boredom when this begins...

        Sam looked away from the laptop, looking at Dean's face. "Okay, I'm not following," he admitted immediately, showing no hesitation and showing no embarrassment for being a bit slow on this. "What does this have to do with us?" he questioned, confusion in his tone. None of the words that he heard from Dean had screamed 'hunt' at him. This just sounded like a murder-suicide to him and those had nothing to do with anything paranormal.

        Riley placed a hand to her head, immediately making a rude remark. "Sam, are you sure that you're a hunter? Because most hunters know what the hell is going on when these things are mentioned." Sam glared at her, like he had been doing a lot since this whole conversation had began, and Riley rolled her eyes at him, uncaring. She stood up from the bed and she approached the table that she had been sitting at earlier, picking up the journal that was still laying on said table. "Plus, I saw it in the journal the other day," she mumbled lowly so that no one could hear her words. She had been bored during the days that Selena was in the hospital so she had asked Dean if she could look through his father's journal. Apparently, he trusted her enough now to allow her to do such and that was how she had came to know about the things that were inside the journal.

        "Dad earmarked the same asylum in the journal," Dean explained to Sam. He made a move to sit down the laptop, wanting to get up so that he could get the journal but Riley approached him and she held the journal out to him, her having already figured that he'd want it. "Thanks," he commented as he took the journal out of Riley's hands. He sat the laptop to the side and it nearly fell off the bed, but Selena caught it before it did such and she placed it in her lap for the time being, in case Dean needed it again. "Thanks," he repeated, except saying it to Selena this time since he saw what she did. "Let's see..." He opened up the journal and he began flipping through the pages, searching for the thing he had mentioned. He quickly found it. "Here." He pointed towards the newspaper clipping that was glued to a right page within the journal. "' _Seven unconfirmed sightings, two deaths'_ , 'til last week at least." Dean looked over at Sam once again. "I think this is where he wants us to go."

        Sam snorted, shaking his head slightly as he stood up from the bed (he had sat back down on it earlier when he had went over to see what was on the laptop). He began to pace across the room, his hands on the back of his head. "This is a job," he stated as he dropped his hands from his head slowly. He rubbed his face and he turned to look back towards Dean, Riley, and Selena. "Dad wants us to work a job." 'Course, why wouldn't he give them a job to do? Sounded like him, actually. Work first, ask questions never. The man was basically a workaholic and the man clearly expected his sons to do what he instructed, even though the instructions were simply coordinates to another hunting location.

        Riley threw her arms in the air before she dropped onto the bed, laying on her back instead of sitting. "Oh, I've had enough already and the day has barely began. Do you ever stop complaining, Sam? Goddamn." She let out a groan, one of many that she had released that morning, and she placed her hands to her face, sighing into them before she dragged her hands down her face and she dropped her arms to her sides, her eyes on the ceiling. If she looked at Sam again, she'd probably knock some of his teeth in this time around. "Look, Sam, perhaps we'll meet him there. And if we meet him there, then Selena and I will finally get to see the man that made you and Dean with the help of your deceased mother. Maybe he wants you both working with him on this and that's why he texted. Or maybe he doesn't and he thinks you both are capable of handling this job while he is stuck on whatever mission he has right now. Either fucking way, you'll..." She huffed and corrected herself. "I meant _we'll_ meet up with the man eventually. Probably. Whenever he's finally free from whatever he's doing. So, can ya finally shut the hell up with your complaining? Goddamn. I swear, it's like you're on your man period. Jesus Christ." During the entirety of her complaining, Sam had been glaring at her. That wasn't anything new at all because every single time he complained about something related to John, Riley complained about Sam in return because she was annoyed.

        Selena looked at Riley, eyeing her curiously. "You are awfully defensive and you have never met the man that you are defending. That is a bit odd, coming from you." It was a bit odd, actually. Riley didn't know John like the brothers did and neither did Selena. Defending the man was a bit odd because of that fact. Although, Selena had a thought in mind about why Riley had defended John and it had something to do with Dean. She was just assuming that, though. She assumed a lot of things that Riley did were because of Dean now. Riley was falling in love, slowly but surely and only Selena, and perhaps Sam, was aware of it. Right now, though, Selena believed that Riley was at a new stage of affection and that would be stage two, in like (stage one had been infatuation and Riley appeared to have been in stage two for a long while now).

        Riley sat up on the bed, her eyes locking with Selena's. She could feel Dean and Sam looking at her as she spoke. "I'm not defending the man. I'm just naming possibilities. Don't go assuming shit, Selena." She wasn't lying. For once, her defense towards something wasn't being influenced by Dean and her feelings for him. She was trying to be on neutral grounds right now, even though she sounded more on Dean's side of the fence because of her aggression towards Sam. She laid back onto her back and she stared at the ceiling again. A weird thought crossed her mind. Well, it wasn't exactly weird but still. She had noticed that occasionally, whenever she and Selena talked, sometimes Dean and Sam would just listen in without saying anything. In addition to that, she noticed that she and Selena do the same thing sometimes when Dean and Sam are talking; the sisters sometimes just listen in instead of inserting themselves into the conversation. That was kind of a polite thing to do, but they didn't do that too often. Or maybe they did. Eh, it made no difference really.

        Selena sighed and she shook her head at Riley. "My apologies for speaking my mind." She said that in such a sassy way, Dean and Sam both cracked a smile despite the tension within the motel room. None of their chats, as a somewhat group, had ever been this tense before. Not from what they could remember, anyways. Most of their chats were decent or above decent. This was the worst that the tension had ever gotten between all of them while they were grouped together. Things had been tense when Riley and Dean disliked each other, but that had been nothing like this because this tension was mostly between Sam and Dean, and the tension was mostly unspoken.

        Letting out a huff of breath, Riley once again sat up on the bed and she stood up, wobbling a bit. She turned towards Sam and she placed her hands on her hips. "Anyways, the point of the matter is that..." She paused her words and she moved around the bed, moving to be standing near Sam. "Sam, the point is that whether he is gonna be there or not, we should do this hunting gig. It's all we've got. It's not like you and Dean will be alone with this if he's a no show." She gestured towards herself and she gestured towards Selena, kind of. Well, she gestured towards behind her and not exactly at Selena but she had meant Selena. "We've reunited and now, we're officially a hunting group of four." She raised her left arm up and weakly fist pounded the air. "Woo," she cheered in an unenthusiastic tone. Sam snorted as he watched her and he rolled his eyes. "Although," Riley continued as she lowered her arm. She looked down at her cast and she gestured at it. "I think it would be best for me to sit out on this one. I don't want anyone worrying about me and I'd just be in the way. Also, I'm still not use to this damn cast. I fucking hate it. It feels weird, it's uncomfortable, and I can barely walk with it without almost tumbling over." Her sense of balance kind of sucked now.

        Sam stared at her, frustration clear on his face. "We don't even know what we're hunting, Riley." Pfft.

        Immediately, Riley's uncomfortable expression transformed into an expression of annoyance and slight anger. "Seriously, Sam?!" she exclaimed, raising her voice because she was really, really getting to the point where she wanted to hit him. "It's a fucking asylum, Sam! What the fuck do you think we'll be dealing with?! Bigfoot?! It's ghosts, Sam! Spirits! We've dealt with those plenty of times before, haven't we?! You, Dean, and Selena will be fine! You'll be peachy keen! Selena's gotten over her fear, so I'm right! Nothing bad will happen! It'll be smooth sailing all the way!"

        "Mostly," Selena muttered. She had gotten over the fear of ghosts  _mostly_ , so it would  _mostly_  be smooth sailing for the three of them once they were inside that asylum. As long as she didn't get separated from the brothers, she'd be fine. The brothers, Riley, and immediate danger were the reasons why Selena wasn't all that terrified of the ghosts anymore. She had been tired of almost getting Riley killed in the past because of the fear and she had completely ignored that fear a few other times when someone was in immediate danger, so she had mostly faced those fears head on. Only thing she truly feared was another Bloody Mary incident where her powers could go overboard. Hopefully, everything would turn out okay. It would be weird and different to not have Riley around during a case, but at least she wouldn't be alone.

        Sam turned his attention towards Selena, finally saying something else to her that morning. Although, it was merely questions that he was asking her and he was kind of hoping to get her to be on his side with things. "This doesn't strike you as weird? The texting, the coordinates?" he questioned. Selena didn't say anything, but she  _did_  look at Sam and she  _did_  shrug slightly while grimacing; she wasn't entirely neutral about things, leaning more towards Dean's side like Riley was. Both sisters were trying to remain on the positive side of things, despite the tension, and Sam made a face because of it; not exactly because of them being positive about the situation but because the sisters were more of Dean's side than his.

        "Sam!" Dean exclaimed, standing up from the bed as he looked at Sam. Sam looked towards him. "Dad's tellin' us to go somewhere, we're goin'." He looked away from Sam after that, leaning over to pick up his duffel bag and he began to place his items into it, his items laying around because of his earlier attempts of finding his phone. He looked up at Selena for a second and, seeing as she wasn't looking at him, he snapped his fingers to get her attention before he pointed at the laptop in her lap. Getting the message, Selena closed the laptop and she handed it over to him. Dean didn't place it into his duffel bag, though, because it was Sam's laptop and not his own. Instead, he approached Sam and roughly gave it to him before he walked by Sam to get his own laptop from the table.

        "We've got a long ass ride ahead of us," Riley mumbled as she watched Sam make a bitch-face...

**~April 6th, 2006; Rockford, Illinois~**

        The ride to Rockford had been a rather long and awkward journey, the four hunters having been silent during the entire ride there; during that ride, the only things making noise was the sound of the Impala zooming down the street and the classic rock music that was playing within the vehicle. While occasionally making stops to get gas, food, beverages, and to use the restroom, the hunters eventually made it into the town at nightfall on the same day they had left Mississippi. Upon entering the town, the four of them went to a motel first thing and they settled down within their shared room momentarily. They could've easily gotten two separate rooms, one for each set of siblings, but they chose not to do that because they had already grown use to sharing a whole room together; on most days, one pair of siblings (whether it was the sisters or the brothers or whether it was the youngest siblings or the oldest siblings) would be up all night while the other pair of siblings would sleep but there were some days where all of them would be tired and they'd share the beds together as two different sets, Selena almost always sleeping with Sam while Riley was almost always sleeping with Dean. Anyways, after they had momentarily settled within the room, Sam quickly found the possible location of the deceased officer's partner and he left the motel with Dean and Selena, leaving Riley behind because of her leg and because she was asleep.

        While Dean and Sam both entered the pub that the living officer was within, Selena remained inside the Impala. There was no need for her to exit the vehicle because she knew that the brothers could handle this part of the case alone. They didn't need her for their good cop, bad cop routine that they were gonna pull on the officer; well, it wasn't necessarily that exactly _but_ it was similar. There probably were better ways to getting information out of the man without having to do that routine, but Selena decided that she'd stay out of it and that she'd just let the boys handle this in their own special way. Eventually, she'd be able to help them out with something different that was far more her style, like research (although, that was Riley's job this time since she was stuck inside a motel) or getting rid of the bad thing that was causing people to rage, and hopefully, she could do without her powers for once because she didn't want to risk awakening the Doppelganger again.

        As Selena waited for the brothers to return, the dark sky began to pour down rain and she watched with fascination as raindrops raced down the windows of the Impala. She was tempted to use her power, the water calling her name and urging her to practice her abilities so that she could become stronger. She didn't give in to the temptation because as far as she was concerned, the only power she'd like to strengthen was her telekinesis and amongst other matters, she feared that practicing too much would cause the Doppelganger to resurface from its, once again, temporary slumber. Within minutes after the rain had poured down, the rain let up and stopped altogether as quickly as it had came. That was when Selena decided that she'd wait  _outside_  of the vehicle instead of inside it; the urge to use her power over water was too great, so she hoped to numb the urge by standing in puddles of water and that actually worked because, hey, she was closer to the water. She only stood outside of the Impala for two minutes when Dean grumpily exited the pub with a slight pout. She watched as he stomped over to her and she waited until he was near her before she started questioning him. "What happened?"

        Dean huffed as he glanced at her and he leaned against the Impala while ignoring the fact that his vehicle was wet from the recent rainfall. His glance towards Selena was just that, a glance, and he was soon looking at the entrance of the pub, already impatiently waiting for Sam to exit out of there as well. "We went through this before we came here, Selena," he replied after a few seconds, trying to dismiss what Selena  _really_  wanted to know. You see, what had happened was that Sam pushed him a little  _too_  roughly in there and it was too rough for it to have been  _just_  acting. Dean knew, or at least felt, that Sam had meant to do that. Things had been tense between them all day long, after all. "Sam and I, we're-" He tried to repeat the plan that he and Sam had agreed on, a plan that Selena already knew about, but clearly, Selena wasn't very stupid so she caught on quickly with what he was trying to do (which was him trying to avoid answering the question that she had asked him).

        Selena shook her head as she interrupted him, knowing fully well that he was trying to avoid answering her question properly. "I recall what the plan was, but you and I both know that I was referring to something else entirely. You look as if you had seen someone kick a small animal, Dean Winchester." Upon him hearing that, Dean made a face at the description she had made about his previous expression. Did he really look like that...? No! No way in hell was that an accurate description! She probably just couldn't think of a better description than that... "I was asking what had occurred to make you have such an expression," Selena continued, frowning at him. Never, never in a million years would she be able to ignore someone while they were in distress of some sort. She had a feeling that Dean would push her away and that he wouldn't reveal anything to her, regardless of what it was, but she still wanted to try and see if talking would help. She adored Dean and she didn't like seeing him like this. She didn't like seeing  _anyone_  like this, actually.

        Despite knowing that he had been caught, Dean continued to avoid telling Selena anything about what happened. Although, what had happened wasn't really anything to worry about,  _but_  it was something that bothered him a bit. It really didn't matter, though, because it was only natural for him and Sam to have their disagreements on things. Just, most of the time, the two of them had tried to avoid having conflicts with each other while the sisters were around. "Uh, it was nothing. You don't need to worry about it, Len." He did that on purpose. He called her by a nickname on purpose. He was trying to distract her, trying to get her mind off of the topic that she was desperate to get out of him and apparently, it worked like a charm.

        "..." The frown on Selena's face slowly turned into a bright smile. "Len?" she questioned. She knew what he was doing, but she didn't really care; he would probably tell her what happened eventually, whether he meant to do such or not. Regardless of what she had been trying to do, she stopped her attempts because she liked that he had called her by a nickname. She had been called Len before, by both Riley and Juliet, but hearing him call her that was pleasing, just as pleasing as it had been when she heard Sam call her Lena. She was close enough to both brothers that they wanted to refer to her by a nickname sometimes and that made her feel all warm inside.

        Dean looked at her fully this time and he nodded shortly. "Yeah." He shrugged slightly, brushing it off as nothing special. So, he called her by a nickname. So what? He mostly just did it to distract her and it had worked. Although, he had kind of wanted to call her by a nickname anyways. "Sam and Riley call you Lena, I'm gonna call you Len." A brief expression of worry came and went on his face as he continued staring at her. "Unless, you don't like the nickname...?" For a split second, he had been worried that she didn't like the nickname but he had a strong feeling that she didn't care what kind of nickname he used for her. He still asked her, though, just in case his feeling was wrong.

        Selena continued to smile and she looked down at her feet. She was really happy right that moment and she wanted the moment to last because she knew that dread would be coming eventually once they reached the asylum. "The nickname is very tolerable," she informed Dean as she looked back up at him. "I have been called it before on multiple occasions. You may use it if you wish." She felt like a teenager, getting all excited over a damn nickname. She wondered if this was how Riley felt when Dean called her Riles, though the feeling for her probably had been loads stronger and it probably was never ending.

        "Great," Dean muttered as he looked away from her. He still wasn't in the best of moods. Not once had he smiled back at Selena like he usually tended to do, whenever she was smiling. His bad mood didn't seem to wanna be lifted just yet and it probably wasn't gonna be lifted any time soon. Selena's smile faltered as she noticed Dean's continued negative behavior, but she didn't say another word, instead keeping to herself since he didn't seem to wanna be bothered further right now. In silence, the two hunters waited for Sam to return outside from his little chat with the officer and that ended up taking another ten minutes or so. Sam pushed through the loud left door of the two-door entrance and he began to approach the Impala. Dean, by this point, wasn't just leaning against the Impala, he was sitting on 'er hood and Selena remained where she stood the entire time, her shoes soaking in the puddle that she remained within. "Shoved me kinda hard in there, buddy boy," Dean commented, narrowing his eyes at Sam as he (Sam) approached.

        Sam shrugged and he held his arms out as he paused in front of Dean momentarily. The grin on Sam’s face at that moment was a cross between smug and false innocence. “I had to sell it, didn’t I? It’s method acting.” Moving away from Dean without even saying a word to Selena, Sam began to walk around the Impala so that he could get to the passenger’s side. Method acting was actually _less_ than half of the reason why Sam had pushed Dean roughly. Sam was still very frustrated with Dean because Dean was dragging Sam along for the ride when all Sam wanted to do was find their father instead of being here, hunting some spirits that are within an asylum. Additionally, Sam was frustrated with Riley and Selena because of their agreeing with Dean more than him, but that frustration wasn’t as bad as his frustration towards Dean right now. As Dean turned to look at Sam while having a confused expression on his person (and while uttering ‘huh?’ in a confused manner), Selena seemed to understand what was occurring between the brothers. ‘Least, she thought she understood but her assumption was actually quite false.

        Selena believed that a misunderstanding had occurred between the brothers because of Sam's recent selective words. She decided to explain to Dean what Sam meant by method acting because, clearly, Dean didn't know what that was and somehow, she herself did. "Sam wanted the acting to be sincere and emotionally expressive," she began explaining, Dean turning his head to look at her. Sam, also, stared at her _but_ from across the vehicle. Selena kept her eyes on Dean as she continued her explanation of method acting, unaware that she was defending Sam's _true_ actions. "Your little scene was that of a good cop, bad cop routine. You were being the bad cop, or rude reporter person, and Sam was being the good cop, or kind fellow civilian witness. He pushed you roughly to make it more believable to those whom were watching, so that the man we were seeking would be more likely to reveal some information that the three of us were searching for." Selena looked towards where Sam was standing, all while Dean was making an 'ah' face at Selena's explanation. "Should I assume that the plan worked wonders?" she questioned Sam.

        "Yeah, it worked," Sam replied. He leaned forward, leaning against the Impala and he placed his hands together on the roof of the lovely vehicle. He began revealing the information he had gotten as Dean turned to face him again, all eyes on Sam now. "Walter Kelly was a good cop. Head of his class, even-keeled, he had a bright future ahead of him. He and his wife had a few fights, like everybody, but it was mostly smooth sailing. They were even talking about having kids." From all of that combined information, Walter didn't sound like someone who'd kill his wife and then himself. Something _definitely_ had to have influenced him into doing it and their only lead was the asylum that the officer had visited before he offed himself and his lover. Spirits were most definitely the case with this trip of theirs, just like Riley had been saying long before their journey to the town began.

        Selena frowned, or continued to frown, as her brain registered the information that she was given; she had been hoping that they were wrong about it being spirits but everything just seemed to point directly at ghosts, so her moments of dread were coming up soon, most definitely. Gosh, she really did not wish to enter that asylum but there was nothing she could do about that because this was supposed to be her job and she was supposed to save lives. She’d just have to suck it up and officially get over her fear of ghosts, slash spirits. “May they both rest in peace,” was all she could manage to say about the information. Not only was she displeased that she’d have to help with handling spirits that she wished hadn’t been the case, but she additionally had been saddened by the fact that two good-hearted weds had lost their lives when their lives had been almost perfect. She truly did hope that they were in a better place and that they were at peace.

        Dean nodded shortly in response to what Selena commented, stuffing his hands into the pockets of the jacket he had on. He wasn’t one to have faith in many things but he, at least, hoped that the two victims were somewhere peaceful because they deserved that much. Onto a different topic, Dean was deciding to just push aside the feelings that were bothering him so that he could focus on this case, which was kind of more important. It was better to have a straight head than a crooked one; better to be focused than to be distracted. “Alright, so, either Kelly had some deep-seated crazy waiting to bust out or something else did it to him,” he stated, replying to what Sam had told him and Selena. Either the guy had been secretly insane or something had made him go insane. There really wasn’t any other possibility that the three of them could think of, other than those two. “What’d Gunderson tell you about the asylum?” he questioned Sam. _A lot_ was the response he had gotten...

        Within no time at all (and without Dean or Selena knowing about any of the information that Sam had gotten out of Gunderson because they all just got into the Impala and sped off), the three hunters were at the location of the asylum. Although Dean and Selena weren’t informed of any information that Sam was aware of, Sam would likely inform them of everything once they were inside because of reasons. Sam climbed up the tall fence first, landing sloppily on the other side with a thud as he landed in a crouch, his left hand briefly touching the concrete ground before he stood up. As Sam waited on the opposite side of the fence, Dean turned to help Selena out but he quickly discovered that she didn't need any help after all. With ease, Selena climbed up the fence and once she was at the very top, she kicked her legs over and she dropped down, landing beside Sam in a half crouch before she stood up correctly, her back to the fence. Dean and Sam both stared at her in surprise as she stepped away from the fence, but Dean broke out of his surprised state quickly, climbing up the fence last and he freaking _flipped_ over the top of the damn thing like a cheerleader before he landed beside Sam, nowhere close to landing in a crouch. Ignoring the keep out signs and without commenting on what just happened with the 'performances' of two certain hunters, the three of them headed up the nearby staircase and they approached closed doors together.

        The door creaked open as the three hunters stepped into the asylum. Selena, not exactly having a purpose except other than just being there for moral support, was holding onto a flashlight that Sam had handed over to her. She shined it around, lighting their way as they walked forward into the room of the building a bit more. The inside of the asylum wasn’t a pretty sight; graffiti was everywhere, debris was everywhere, broken glass was everywhere, empty beer bottles and cans were everywhere, and everything that was either old, worn down, or broken was, well, _everywhere_. The place was a complete dump, as one would expect from an abandoned asylum that teens break into for fun, and that just made the place creepier than it already was. “I…” Selena’s voice trailed off for a moment, her eyes looking around at the sight that disturbed her greatly. “I really do not like this place.” It was hard to tell what part of the asylum they had entered, but it looked like some sort of corridor so perhaps it was a lobby of some kind, like an entrance lobby or something.

        “You’re not alone with that feeling,” Dean remarked, expressing that he was uncomfortable with being in the building as well. Although, he was use to having to enter abandoned asylums or buildings to hunt spirits, so he was only just _slightly_ uncomfortable about being there and he was more on alert than anything else in that moment. The spirits, or whatever it was that was causing people to go insane, often caused trouble at night and currently, it was still nightfall and that was the main reason why he was so on alert. Sam and Selena needed to be cautious on some sort of level, too, just as Dean currently was; well, Sam was cautious on a medium level, but Selena’s cautiousness was on a rather low level because of her anxiety about being there with ghosts, so Selena was the only one who needed their cautiousness up on a higher level and that definitely wasn’t gonna happen with her being as anxious as she was right now.

        “So, apparently, the cops chased the kids here…” Sam pulled out a flashlight of his own, shining it around the lobby until he quickly located what he was searching for and what he had been searching for was located towards their shared right. “Into the south wing,” Sam continued as he turned to face the south wing’s entrance, his flashlight’s beam shining on the sign that was hanging above double doors. Furthermore, Sam even gestured towards the sign with his free hand as he kept his flashlight on it. Dean and Selena both turned to face towards the south wing’s entrance as well, Selena shining her own flashlight towards the sign and doors.

        “South wing, huh?” Dean questioned. Immediately afterwards, he continued speaking as he suddenly (or quickly) realized something. “Wait a second.” Dean reached into his jacket to pull out John’s journal, always keeping it on his person just in case he ever needed to flip through it (like now). He opened it and he began to flip through its pages as he searched for that article he had found earlier that day. As he did such, Selena was shining her flashlight down towards the journal so that Dean could see what he was looking at. Although, it would’ve been better if Selena had a far more steady hand when holding the light over the pages; she wasn’t shaking like a leaf but she was definitely getting there. “South wing, south wing,” Dean mumbled to himself. Eventually, he located the article again and he began to read aloud from it, his left hand holding up the journal while his right hand laid on the page itself. “ _Nineteen Seventy-Two. Three kids broke into the south wing, only one survived._  Way he tells it, one of his friends went nuts and started lighting up the place.” A whimper escaping from Selena caused Dean to look over at her. “Sorry,” he apologized, though he didn’t sound entirely sincere about it since his mind was amongst more important matters right that minute.

        Selena immediately dismissed the slight insincere apology from Dean and she shook her head a bit too rapidly for a short period of time, her emotions nearly spilling over the edge already just from being inside the asylum and from hearing of that event. “I am fine,” she stated, trying to reassure herself more than the brothers. She removed the beam of her flashlight from the journal, shining it shakily back towards the south wing’s closed entrance. She caught a glimpse of Sam stepping closer to her, a look of slight concern on his face but for some reason, his concern seemed a bit forced to her and it was probably just because of her nerves. Furthermore, she caught a glimpse of Dean looking concerned, as well, but she only saw it for a split second before lack of emotion was visible in Dean’s expression. “That’s just… Hmm…” She seemed to have slight troubles with getting her words out but she managed alright in the end. “...That was not a very pleasant event to hear about, but regardless of my being more unsettled whilst being here, it seems to me that the south wing is the heart of our problem. Perhaps we could find the solution there as well.” Although, entering the south wing would bring the three of them closer to risk of going insane like the previous victims. Unfortunately, it was a risk that all of them would take anyways.

        “But if the kids are spelunking the asylum, why aren’t there a ton more deaths?” Dean questioned as he put away the journal. That was a good question, actually. With so many teens coming there, it’s a surprise that more unfortunate deaths hadn’t occurred. Clearly, they were missing something important here.

        “I’m not certain of that, Dean,” Selena answered, shrugging her shoulders slightly as she frowned at the double doors. Seconds after she shined her flashlight on the sign above the doors once again, she raised an eyebrow as she thought about what Dean said. That word couldn’t have just been correctly used in that sentence. The meaning of it just didn’t fit, not to her. She turned her head towards her right, looking towards Dean in the almost darkness while she kept her flashlight on the sign. “Umm, I don’t believe that _spelunking_ was the correct word to use in that sentence of yours. Spelunking means the exploration of _caves_. We are not within a cave, so that word has no true meaning.” The asylum, by all means, wasn’t a cave at all and Selena was using logic over examples and technicalities.

        “The concept is technically the same, though,” Sam commented in response to Selena instead of Dean speaking in defense of his own words. Sam had understood what Dean had meant; sure, the word wasn’t exactly used correctly but Dean had only been trying to say that teens really loved exploring this asylum and somehow, most of those teens left the place alive and well while very few weren’t as fortunate. Selena seemed to understand after she thought about it for a moment, nodding shortly after her thoughts had gotten straightened out; she could see how the concept was similar. Sam looked towards the double doors once more and this time around, something caught his line of sight. He looked more closely at the object as he approached the double doors; broken chains were wrapped around the handle of the right door and the chains trailed down to the floor. “Looks like the doors are usually chained. Could’ve been chained up for years,” Sam commented as he looked back towards Dean and Selena, shining his flashlight towards them.

        “Yeah, to keep people _out_ ,” Dean remarked. He stepped forward, placing himself at Sam’s rightside by the double doors. Selena, though she hesitated for a moment or two, stepped forward to place herself behind both brothers. “Or to keep something _in_ ,” Dean added on, giving Sam a look. The brothers stared at each other for a moment, both of them then glancing back towards Selena for a second before they both looked towards the double doors again. Sam slowly pushed the door open, it creaking loudly as it did. Dean and Sam looked at each other again, and Selena looked at both brothers as she felt her anxiety levels rising higher. The little stare-off ended as quickly as it began and the three hunters got a move on with what they were doing. They walked down the wide hallway, the Winchester brothers leading the way while Selena trailed closely behind them (why she was behind them was unknown since, based on movies and tv shows, usually the person in the back of the group was gonna be the victim of some sort of violence). Various objects were thrown about, lying dusty on the floor as the three walked by them and a single rocking chair was in the middle of the hallway, slightly blocking their path. Dean and Sam walked on either side of it, with Selena following behind Dean. “Let me know if you see any dead people, _Haley Joel_ ,” Dean suddenly commented to Sam as he pulled out his EMF meter.

        Selena was confused by this comment of Dean’s but Sam was simply unamused by it, mostly because he knew what Dean was referring to (and he additionally knew what the reference was). “Dude, enough,” Sam responded. He glanced towards where Selena was, quickly noting her confused expression and he shot Dean a look of warning (that Dean didn’t see) as a result, shining his flashlight at Dean. He didn’t want Dean to continue onward with this sudden conversation topic, especially with Selena around because Selena wasn’t aware of what was happening to Sam. She’d definitely know something if Dean kept on, though, and Sam was hoping that Dean would shut the hell up. Unfortunately for him, Dean didn’t shut up and he just continued on with talking about it. Damn it, Dean…

        Dean released a chuckle as he continued walking forward, Sam temporarily trailing slightly behind him in pace. “I’m serious,” Dean stated a few seconds later. Sam sped up to be in pace with Dean again, Sam walking closer to him this time. Selena trailed behind them slowly, her anxiety easing up a bit because of this new distraction. “You gotta be careful, alright? Ghosts are attracted to that whole _ESP_ thing you got going on,” Dean continued. Pfft, if that were even remotely true, Selena would be surrounded by spirits right now.

        Selena froze up for a split second, her walking coming to a very short pause. Did she hear that correctly? “...What?” she questioned, saying it quietly as she quickly started back her walking, keeping close to the brothers again. She blinked as she thought that sentence over and over again in her head. Even so, she still had nothing more to say except for one word. “...What?” she questioned again, slightly louder this time so that she could be heard. What the hell was this about _ESP_ and how was it even remotely connected to Sam in any sort of way? Sam didn’t have powers like Selena and Riley. He couldn’t have any powers, he was completely human. He _was_ completely human, wasn’t he…? Selena was so confused by her thoughts now. So, like, did Sam actually have powers? Powers that were similar to one of her own? If that turned out to be true, it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing because the two of them could relate to each other a bit more. Although, with the good came the bad and Selena wouldn’t like the fact that Dean and Sam avoided telling her of this information sooner.

        Sam sighed, shaking his head slightly as he continued walking with Dean and Selena. He had been afraid of that, afraid of Selena asking questions about what Dean was speaking of. Damn it. He hadn’t wanted her to know anything just yet, but it was too late to stop her from questioning them both now. Well, Sam could, at least, attempt to avoid telling her about what he could do. Although, it wasn’t really powers (in his mind; to him) but it was more so just something that would happen to him for some reason. “I told you, it’s not _ESP_. I just have strange vibes sometimes. Weird dreams.” Weird dreams that happened to predict a random future outcome. He wasn’t looking forward to having more of those. Also, technically, he _did_ end up revealing some of what he could do, despite him not having wanted to reveal anything, but it really wasn’t all that much to go by, so it was fine.

        Dean continued on walking with Sam and Selena following his lead, Sam still walking beside him at close range while Selena trailed directly behind them both. He didn’t even glance away from the EMF meter as he responded to Sam. “Yeah, whatever. Don’t ask, don’t tell.” He continued staring at the EMF meter as they walked further through the long hallway, wondering when they’d get a few readings off the damn thing while they were there. However, it was becoming more and more unlikely that they’d get any readings during their _current_ visit to the asylum. Still, it was rather odd that nothing was happening that night because normally, spirits are out and about around this time. They couldn’t have been wrong about their assumption that it was ghosts. Right?

        "What are you two speaking of?” Selena asked, tired of being left out of the conversation. Why was Sam avoiding speaking fully about the topic when he basically revealed what he could do anyways? Was he worried about what she would think? Was he uncertain about his newfound powers? How long had he known about these powers of his, anyway? A month? Longer? And was his power turning into telekinesis? Or was he just psychic? Selena had so many questions about the conversation topic, but neither brother seemed eager to explain anything to her and she really wanted to know why that was. She thought she was close enough to them that there wouldn’t be any sort of secrets between them. But, then again, she had kept a secret from them, up until she awoken from her coma and had to reveal everything because of the wounds she obtained while in said coma. Perhaps this was payback for that.

        Sam shook his head again. “It’s nothing, Selena,” he dismissed her. Until he was certain about what was happening to him, he wanted Selena to remain mostly in the dark about his situation. Sure, she knew he had ‘powers’ now, but she didn’t know everything exactly (neither did he himself) and he’d rather avoid being asked a question that he wouldn’t be able to answer. That question would be: _how do you have powers?_ That was something he needed to figure out first before anything else was made known to Selena. Additionally, he knew it was probably dumb to continue keeping Selena in the dark, since his ‘powers’ seemed similar to hers and she’d likely try to help him figure shit out, but he’d rather not risk something bad happening; he’d rather avoid consequences than deal with them. Plus, Riley probably would bite off his dick in wolf form if she learnt that he had been hiding something from her, and Selena, for a while. With Selena, she would probably be more understanding about him hiding something since she hid a secret of her own for a while, but Sam just wasn’t fully ready to explain everything he knew to her right now. For all he knew, him having these ‘powers’ could be a bad thing (or they could lead to a bad thing) and because of that possibility, he definitely wanted to wait with revealing everything.

        Selena frowned as she suddenly became very tempted to grab his jacket and to force him into revealing everything to her. Clearly, he was hiding something and for some reason, he really didn’t want to tell her anything about it, even with him knowing that she knew something was up. However, despite her wish to know what exactly he was hiding (which actually wasn’t much except for the full explanation of what he could do), she had to respect the fact that he had things he didn’t want to tell others. Oh, who was she kidding? Screw respect. Rather he was ready or not, she still wanted to know what was being hidden from her. What exactly was the harm in her knowing fully, anyway? Gosh, she felt like she was Riley, getting angry over a measly little secret when she herself had recently just revealed a secret she had kept to herself for a long while. She also felt like a hypocrite but she couldn’t help her curiosity and worry. “I do not believe that for a second, Sam Winchester. You are hiding something else from me. Something that Dean knows about. Does Riley know about it, too, or is she in the dark just as I am?” If Riley was unaware of this as well, something definitely was up with this finding she only now learnt of.

        “I said that it’s nothing,” Sam repeated to Selena, harshly this time. Selena couldn’t take no for an answer, could she? He wished she’d just give up because he wasn’t telling her anything else, not anytime soon. “If it was something, I’d tell you,” he continued. That was a damn lie because it _was_ something and he refused to tell her because of multiple reasons: he wasn’t ready for her to know everything (which was just _one_ other thing and that was about how his dreams kind of predicted the future), he didn’t want to face the consequences of having not told her and Riley sooner, and he didn’t want to risk being the cause of either sister getting hurt again or getting dead (meaning this was kind of a way for him to protect them from something uncertain because the more they didn’t know, the safer they _probably_ were). Sam looked over at Dean again, changing the subject of the conversation. “You get any reading on that thing or not?” he asked.

        "Nope,” Dean answered immediately, apparently not having heard the little conversation between Sam and Selena (or maybe he chose not to address it). “Of course, it doesn’t mean no one’s home,” he added on quickly. And it definitely didn’t mean that they had been wrong. All signs pointed towards spirits and just because there weren’t any there right that moment, it didn’t mean that it wasn’t spirits that were doin’ the killing causing. It just meant that, uh, the spirits were, erm, resting or something.

        Sam nodded in agreement, feeling relieved that the subject had changed and he was glad that Selena hadn’t stepped in to put the original topic back in place. “Spirits can’t appear during certain hours of the day.” Though that was true, the fact that no spirits were showing up that _night_ was still a bit odd and no one was voicing that fact. _Yet_.

        "Yeah, the freaks come out at night,” Dean continued. Sam nodded in agreement, again.

        Selena, her having had been silent because she was frowning and thinking about why Sam wasn’t telling her everything, broke out of her thoughts as their words were finally processed within her mind. Becoming distracted from what the previous topic had been, she decided to point something out to the brothers. “But it _is_ night. How come none of the spirits are out right now if they usually show up around nightfall, according to you both?” she questioned them. She kind of sounded like Riley, just a tad bit; her words sounded like something Riley would’ve said. Additionally, the only bright side to this whole conversation was the fact that Selena was so distracted, she was no longer anxious about being inside that asylum.

        Both Winchesters made a face as they glanced at each other, both having forgotten about that fact. “Okay, so, maybe they show up every _other_ night,” Dean stated. Only response he got was a sarcastic hum from Selena; in multiple different ways was Selena much like Riley and it was a rarity to see those similarities, especially when the two were separated. Conversations suddenly dying down, the three hunters silently continued even further down the long-ass hallway that seemed to never freaking end. Dean spoke up, again, to fill the void of silence after, like, a minute passed by. “Hey, Sam,” he deadpanned as he looked at Sam while he walked. Sam looked back at him in return as he, too, continued on walking. “Who do you think is the hotter psychic: _Patricia Arquette_ , _Jennifer Love Hewitt_ , or you?” Dean asked him. Unamused by Dean once again, Sam pushed him forwards while bitch facing and Dean laughed. Honestly though, Dean was actually quite freaked out about Sam having these abilities, but like that was gonna stop him from teasing his younger brother. Confusion and interest both appeared on Selena’s face (confusion because she didn’t know of the people listed and interest because she heard psychic in the same sentence as Sam being mentioned) as she continued on with walking behind the brothers. Dean caught a glimpse of that mixed expression before he looked back towards where they were heading. “Don’t worry about it, Len. It really isn’t anything important. Just an inside joke.” Selena could tell that he was lying, but instead of calling him out on it like Riley would do, she chose to just pretend that she was accepting the answers that she had gotten. Although, she was disappointed with both brothers, due to Sam’s attempts of trying to hide that he was, apparently, psychic and due to Dean’s lying along with his avoiding of saying anything more about the topic.

        Eventually, the three of them finally exited the hallway and they entered what seemed to be some kind of experimentation room. Honestly, it was kind of convenient that they entered that sort of room first because they’d likely get some good clues in there about the case they were currently working. The room was very unsettling, tools and instruments of multiple types left lying around on dusty trays and tables. Dean and Sam moved around the room, but Selena remained close to the exit, not wanting to step any further into the room that made her anxiety return. She didn’t know what half the items in the room were but she felt certain that they weren’t used for something good and that was enough to keep her practically frozen by the door as she watched the brothers wander about.

        In no time flat, a conversation erupted between the brothers and it was like the two had forgotten that Selena was with them. For a very short time, the two brothers spoke about ghosts and though there was slight tension between them, everything seemed okay enough. But then, Sam just had to change it to the topic of their father that failed to be there to help them. Yet another disagreement occurred between them; Dean wanted to do what their father had asked of them but Sam wanted to drop the case and go back to searching for their father. Selena didn’t add in her own opinions this time, allowing the brothers to talk amongst themselves as she just listened to them. As quickly as the conversation had started, it ended and as a result, there was more tension between the brothers. Before Selena could blink several times in one minute, Dean had picked up a plaque of someone’s name and he was talking about how they needed to go research some things before he left the room after mentioning the name _Sanford Ellicott_. Selena didn’t make a move to follow him, waiting for Sam to approach her and when he did, she gave him a hug that she believed he probably needed before the two of them exited the room together. This case was gonna be a tough one to get through…

**~April 7th, 2006; Rockford, Illinois~**

        After the three hunters had left the asylum the previous night, they had gone back to the motel where Riley was impatiently and boredly awaiting their arrival. Dean explained everything to Riley while Sam flopped onto his shared bed and while Selena went to check her bandaged cuts within the bathroom. With Riley knowing everything that the other three knew, half of the four hunters decided to call it a night and that half was the younger siblings. Dean stayed up for a while, helping Riley with searching for a lead while using the lead that he had found inside the asylum, but after a few hours of finding nothing (because information tended to be very well hidden on the web), Dean went to bed upon Riley’s very aggressive request. Once the sun had arose into the morning sky of the current day, the Winchesters and Selena were on the move again after hearing some good leading news from Riley. Because of that new information, the three of them were currently at a psychiatry building. After a brief argument about who was going inside (that argument occurring only between the brothers, Selena not being included), Sam ended up being the one sitting inside the waiting room as he waited to speak with a psychiatrist named James Ellicott, son of Sanford Ellicott (that being the information that Riley had given the three hunters when they had gotten up and that information had actually been pretty easy to come by). While Sam was stuck doing that, Dean and Selena were located outside of the building in two different locations; Dean was standing by the entrance of the building because he wanted to know everything immediately after Sam was done and Selena was sitting alone in the Impala because of unknown, unimportant reasons.

        Bored out of his freaking mind as he waited for Sam to get finished inside (which would take a while since Sam only just got into the damn building), Dean just remained leaning against the glass window of the building, standing right beside the glass door entrance of said building. After several minutes of silence and of Dean watching everyone that came and went, his cell-phone began to ring quietly inside his jacket pocket, vibrating almost violently. After fumbling to get to it, he managed to bring his cell-phone out and he looked at the caller id for a split second before he answered, pressing the phone against his right ear. “What happened this time?” Dean questioned immediately into the phone, sounding like he was half on alert and half uncaring.

        The sudden caller was Riley, unsurprisingly and surprisingly, and she didn’t sound very amused by his question. Not that it was an amusing question to begin with, but the fact that Dean assumed something had happened was very annoying and Riley found herself already irritated with this phone call she made. Maybe he had said it to tease her since the only time she actually ever called him was to tell him something bad, but either way, it still wasn’t amusing to her. “Nothing happened, Winchester,” she responded with a scoff. If Dean could see her now, he’d be seeing her rolling her eyes, but she wouldn’t be surprised if he assumed she was doin’ such anyways. “I don’t call just to tell you about something bad.” She doesn’t call period. Most of the time.

        Dean made a face as he replied back, holding the phone a bit tightly in his hand. For some reason, his mood was beginning to sour again but it wasn’t entirely because of Riley. Most of the reason was because his mind had drifted back to the arguments he and Sam had been having lately, especially the argument they had just minutes before they had gotten the coordinates from their dad ‘anonymously’. The tiniest part of the reason why he was getting in a sour mood was because he felt that Riley was gonna mention something that he didn’t want her to mention and it was likely gonna be the mentioning of that moment that had occurred between the two of them inside that hospital the other day. Or more like _almost_ occurred since nothing actually happened. He’d rather forget about it either way, though. “You don’t call me ever,” he pointed out to her. “Except that one time and it was about something bad.” So, that confirmed that he _did_ assume that she was calling just to tell him some bad news again (which explained his half alerted tone he had been using).

        “...Right,” Riley replied after a few seconds of hesitation. She had been trying very hard not to facepalm. Of course he’d remember that she wasn’t one to call somebody unless she absolutely needed to. The reason why she had called him then (meaning the first time she called him ever) was because she needed him to be at her side while Selena was in a temporary coma. While she enjoyed the fact that both brothers had came to her rescue during her moments of distress, she had been happier about Dean having been there for her than she was with Sam being there too. Realizing that she had been quiet for a moment because she was roaming her many thoughts, she shook her head as she continued speaking into the phone, her back against the headboard of Dean’s bed. Oh, of course she was on his bed. Why wouldn’t she be? Technically, it was her bed, too. “Anyways!” she exclaimed, her voice returning to a normal tone shortly afterwards. “I just, uh… I believe-” Nope, that sounded too much like Selena talk right there. “I think that we should talk about a certain something. You know, about that _thing_ that almost happened the other day.” She groaned mentally. She might not had sounded like Selena anymore but she definitely sounded like a goddamn teenager that was trying to reveal her feelings to some guy she was crushing on terribly. Gosh, this was horrible and more than slightly embarrassing. She wanted out of that motel room; it was making her do shit that she probably would’ve never done.

        ”Are you high?” Dean asked her after a short pause. Usually, she (meaning Riley, of course) would get straight to the point of something, but with this whole conversation, it sounded like she was trying to avoid being completely direct, which made her seem like a whole different person. Hence why he asked her the question of her being high because people who were high tended to have a completely different personality than what they normally have.

        ”Am I-?” Riley interrupted herself, releasing a inhuman growl into the phone as her inner wolf grew furious. Was it just her or was he being more of a pain in the ass lately? “No! I’m not fucking high, D! I just…! I’m bored out of my mind in this godforsaken motel room!” She removed herself from the bed as she kept the phone to her ear, pacing around the room uncomfortably as her movement made her cast rub against her bare skin. Was it even supposed to be doing that? Maybe it was too small or too big for her. Or maybe she just had the worst luck. She continued ranting into the phone about being bored before she finally revealed why she had really called, the reason not being because of boredom. “...And then I thought, ‘ _huh, I wonder if Dean’s busy at the moment so I can bug him about the almost kiss we shared’_! An almost kiss that you seem to not wanna talk about because I know for damn sure that you knew what I was talking about before you asked me that ridiculous question!” She hated that she had become more irritable and whatnot, but Dean’s annoying remarks and stuff lately didn’t make shit any better. Mostly, it was Sam who’d make her get pissed off but now, it was Dean. Hell, his words probably weren’t worth getting pissed about, but she couldn’t help it because her cast made her more irritable about things. She hated the damn thing and couldn’t wait until she could remove it.

        Dean didn’t hesitate for a second when he spoke his next words to her, but that was because he thought this shit over and over again in his head before he decided he’d tell her this when the time came where they spoke of what happened. ”It wasn’t an almost kiss. It wasn’t anything.” He knew that his words were a lie and he knew that Riley wouldn’t believe him, but he really didn’t want to talk about this crap right now. They were in the middle of a case and he needed to stay focused. He didn’t want to have a talk about feelings. Dean Winchester wasn’t one to ever talk about his feelings unless something happened like him falling in love with someone (which happened in the not too distant past and that ended badly) or him growing too close to someone (which was kind of the same thing as falling in love, but different ‘cause this meant friendship wise).

        Riley rolled her eyes at Dean’s response. Yeah, like she’d believe that shit. She knew that what almost happened was something, something more than nothing. That logic sounded stupid in her head. ”Surrre it wasn’t,” she sarcastically remarked. Dean was just avoiding the topic again, she was sure about that. But the two of them were gonna talk about that almost kiss eventually, even if she had to back him into a corner of a basement that had no windows and one door. She knew he wasn’t good with words because of the awkward moments they had between each other but she’d get those feelings outta him eventually. She wasn’t revealing her own feelings until the jerk could admit to himself that he had the same feelings. Although, she is just assuming that he has the same feelings as she has for him. But he wouldn’t have tried to kiss her if he didn’t feel something for her. Until he admitted things, she wasn’t gonna reveal anything. And thinking all of that over in her head, she made a face when she realized she really was acting like a teenaged female. Goddamn, she really needed to stop doing that.

        Dean sighed and he looked through the glass window that he was leaning against. He didn’t see Sam, but he sure as hell wished he had seen Sam. Speaking to Sam would’ve been a better excuse than anything to end this phone call. “Look, Riles, I don’t have time for this and I really don’t want to talk about _that_ over the phone.” Well, it probably would’ve made him feel less awkward about it since she wouldn’t be right in front of his face if he talked about it over the phone, but he’d rather not talk about it at all and just hold it off until he couldn’t hold it off anymore.

        "Fine, Mr. Grumpy Pants,” Riley remarked before she hung up the phone angrily. She huffed and placed her hands on her hips as she stopped pacing inside the motel room, shaking her head as she rolled her eyes. “Who shat in his cereal this morning…?” she mumbled to herself as she sat down on Sam’s bed. If anyone was having a bad day, it was her because she was stuck in this damn motel room, again. Only difference was that she’d be stuck in it all day long, whereas she had been stuck in there just for a night the previous day. With a huff, she tossed her phone on the bed, it landing beside her, and she laid down, her eyes on the moldy ceiling. Fuck this bullshit…

        Approximately forty-five minutes later at the psychiatry building, Sam was exiting the office of psychiatrist J Ellicott. He looked uncomfortable, he looked frustrated, and he looked like he was so done with absolutely everything. As he walked through the building, soon heading through the waiting room, his cell started ringing within his jeans pocket. Rolling his eyes, he pulled the phone out of his pocket, but he was rather surprised that it wasn’t Dean who was calling him, since he thought Dean was getting impatient with waiting (though, that was correct either way). Instead, the caller was Riley and he answered his phone after his feelings of surprise had left his body _temporarily_. “What’s up? Are you hurt?” he asked, a hint of concern in his tone. Just as Dean had, he was assuming that something had gone wrong since she only ever called the brothers once and that was to say something negative and rather heartbreaking.

        A look of relief spread across Sam’s face as he listened to Riley’s reply. “I really wish you Winchesters would stop assuming that something’s wrong when I call you. Just because I rarely send out a call, that doesn’t mean that you have the right to assume something’s up. Sheesh.” Sam could practically hear Riley roll her eyes through the phone. “Anyways,” Riley continued, “That’s not why I called you.” Sam stopped his walking, pausing in the middle of the waiting room so that he could finish the phone call in there before heading out. “You okay, Sammy?” Riley immediately asked, concern fully in her tone. Firstly, she had called him at the perfect time, doing such just as he had gotten finished with finding out things and now, secondly, she was asking if he was okay like she could sense that he wasn’t (even though he hasn’t exactly been okay for a long while).

        Sam blinked. Had he heard her correctly? “You’re calling to ask if _I’m_ okay?” he questioned. Why on earth would she call to ask that all of a sudden and why say it through a phone call no less? Couldn’t she had asked him that earlier before he left the motel? And why did she wanna know if he was okay _now_ when he hasn’t been okay for several days? Eh, it was the thought that counted, he supposed… ‘Least she was trying to be kind, though being kind wasn’t entirely in her nature. Also, did she have a sixth sense or something that he didn’t know about? It was like Riley knew that he was feeling worse than he had been lately; he had already been feeling like shit the past few days but he felt worse after talking to that psychiatrist that kept avoiding answering Sam’s questions unless Sam answered the man’s questions in return.

        ”I’m a female, Sam,” Riley replied. “We know about these things.” There was a slight pause before she continued. “Well, we know _most_ things, anyways.” She additionally knew that he had been upset and frustrated the past few days, and that those feelings of his got worse once the coordinates were texted to them, but she hadn’t thought of saying anything to him until now. She wasn’t the best of friends at some points but she usually tended to try and make up for it. Like right that moment, for instance, but it probably wasn’t a very good time since they were still in the middle of a case.

        "I’m fine,” Sam told her in a very non-convincing tone. He was tempted to just hang up the phone and deal with her wraith later at the motel, but considering she could turn into a large dog and that she could easily make his ass catch on fire, he thought better of doing that. He just didn’t say anything else. Just those few words. He wasn’t exactly looking forward to her response, expecting something aggressive to escape Riley’s lips; she had been aggressive towards him all day the previous day, which made that another reason why he was surprised by her sudden recent question.

        Riley, still remaining inside the motel room and still laying on Sam’s bed, smiled sadly. She understood what Sam was doing. She’d do that, too, whenever she wanted to push someone away. She did it to Selena plenty of times before they met the brothers. Hell, she did it a few times during their time of knowing said brothers. As much as she tended to push others away herself, she didn’t want Sam to push her away. “I know that you’re lying, Sammy,” she told him, speaking softly. The fact that he wasn’t correcting her each time she called him Sammy definitely must’ve meant something; although, she didn’t know whether he was in a mood where that nickname was acceptable or in a mood where he didn’t care about the nickname and didn’t bother with correcting her. “But it’s alright. Just know that I’m here if you need to talk about anything. And Selena is there for you, too. I’m sorry that it hasn’t seemed like we were lately.”

        Sam smiled a little to himself. These sort of moments with Riley, they tended to be the best ones for him. “I knew that already, Riles,” he informed her. Sure, he has been mad as hell about the fact that the two sisters seem to be grouping up with Dean more than with he himself, but there had been times where it was the opposite, times where the sisters were on his side rather than on Dean’s side. So, he was aware that the sisters would be there for him whenever they could be. “But thanks for saying it,” he continued, still smiling. Hearing that had lightened his mood up a bit, even if it was gonna be temporary; he still mostly had a bit of a sour mood, but it lightened up, thanks to Riley’s choice of words and unfortunately, anything could bring back all of the sourness of his mood.

        Riley grinned brightly to herself inside the motel room, keeping the phone close to her left ear. She could tell by his tone that she had helped him cheer up somewhat. Her job here was done. “Be careful, Sammy. And please, protect Selena. You know how she gets with these sorts of things.” If he did neither, she’d kill him dead after making sure everyone was alive still once the situation was handled.

        "You know I will,” Sam told her, his way of giving her a promise. “See you later.” After hearing Riley mumble her goodbye, he hung up the phone and placed it back in his jeans. His smile remained on his face for a bit as he commenced walking through the waiting room again, but that lasted up until he spotted Dean leaning against the glass window from outside the building. Once again, all the negativity returned to his thoughts and he was bitch facing again. This was all a waste of time. They shouldn’t be here, they should be looking for their father. They should ditch this case and put someone else on it like Riley or Selena, or just the both of the sisters. The brothers could come back to get them afterwards, if they weren’t dead, or maybe they could even try contacting Juliet to see if she’d do it since it was rather hard for her to be killed. Overall, in Sam’s head, the main priority of him and Dean should be finding John and the creature, not dealing with every other case that gets sent in their direction.

        Sam, moments later, exited the building as he opened up the entrance door, trying his hardest to ignore Dean whom was still leaning right beside said door with his back up against the glass window. He (Sam) quickly noticed that Selena wasn’t standing near Dean, automatically assuming that she must’ve remained inside the vehicle the entire time. As Dean and Sam walked back towards where the Impala was parked, Sam (with slight attitude) was forced to speak with Dean as he explained everything that he had learnt about the asylum. What had happened at the asylum was that on one night in sixty-four, patients within the South Wing had suddenly began a riot, attacking the staff along with each other and some people from both sides were killed as a result, Ellicott being one of those victims. Furthermore, some bodies weren’t recovered, including Ellicott, and those bodies were supposedly stuffed somewhere within the asylum (because where else would they be), making it their job (their as in Dean, Sam, _and_ Selena) to find and get rid of the bodies or, at least, get rid of the main one, which would be Ellicott probably. Finally returning to the Impala, the same words were exchanged to Selena but in fewer words (it was summarized) and soon, the three had a plan to return to the asylum that very night so that they could get this job done. Just, things weren’t going to be easy this time around since surely, the ghosts would be coming out to play…

**~April 7th, 2006; Rockford, Illinois~**

        Within the motel room, Riley remained bored out of her fucking mind because she had absolutely nothing to do that was even remotely entertaining. The Winchesters and her half-sister hadn’t returned like they said they would, most likely having found another lead or something that they could easily follow without much research. That or Dean wanted to explore around the town before doing whatever it was that the three had planned or whatever. God, it sucked ass being stuck inside the room all day. For starters, she was alone and that sucked. Secondly, there wasn’t anything to do really and that also sucked very much. Lastly, it just plain sucked being in that motel room, goddamn it. All she was able to do was stare at the fucking ceiling. She had made those phone calls mostly out of boredom, but she also had missed the sounds of Sam and Dean’s voices. Those two had certainly grown on her and she still hated it; caring for someone was weakness and now, she had three weaknesses instead of one (those weaknesses obviously being Selena and the Winchesters). That conversation between herself and Dean could’ve gone better, but she supposed that was her fault since she was slightly trying to force Dean into revealing shit to her over the damn phone. Things had went better with the call between herself and Sam, but that was probably because Sam was the more open, patient (not too much more patient than Dean, anyways, since he was quite impatient when he didn’t get his way), and caring brother.

        Not even three minutes went by before Riley got off the bed and she turned on the television that was within the motel room. She didn’t feel like searching for the remote or flipping through the channels with the buttons on the television set, so she just let the television station stay as it was after turning it on. Sitting on the bed again, she quickly came to realize that the channel was on some sort of soap opera and she groaned, cursing her laziness of not turning the channel while she was still standing. However, she ended up getting really, really into it, so damn much that she started crying in the middle of an episode (and she had watched, like, five episodes before that). Hell, she additionally almost started screaming at the television as some shit started happening and it truly was some shit. She said some shit, too, that she’d never tell anyone about. What was happening right now was between her and anyone that happened to be watching her, which was no one. “Don’t do it, Rachel. Paulo is a very bad man. He grabbed another woman’s ass and nearly slept with another before you cockblocked him. Don’t marry him, Rachel. You deserve so much better, Rachel. Oh, Rachel, don’t be stupid,” she sobbed, rubbing her nose against a towel from the bathroom that she gotten earlier when the waterworks had started. Yeah, she’s never allowing anyone to find out about this shit.

        Once the soap opera had ended and a different one had started, Riley got up and she turned off the television to avoid going crazy over another one and she spotted a radio on the nearby dresser. Unable to help herself since she was getting bored again, she turned the radio on and for a while, she only nodded her head to the songs that were played as she placed herself back on one of the beds. She did that, up until _My Humps_ by _The Black-Eyed Peas_ came on. She stood up and she started dancing around as much as she could manage, mostly just shaking her hips to the beat while moving her arms around and she even sang along with the lyrics, singing the ones that she knew and she even made up some of her own. “ _They say I’m really sexy, the boys they wanna sex me. They always standing next to me, always dancing next to me. Tryna feel my hump, hump. Lookin’ at my lump, lump. This next part’s stupid but I love it. If you love it, I will...oh, fuck it.”_ She wasn’t the best at making her own lyrics but anything was better than the lyrics that she thought were dumb.

        Before she knew it, the whole entire day had gone by and no one had returned to the motel room. Perhaps they were roaming around the town still or something. Or doing what they did best and that was fighting monsters while saving peoples. Shutting off the radio that she had been listening to for hours, Riley went back to Dean’s bed and she flopped down onto it, mumbling against the sheets since she landed face-first on the bed, laying on her stomach. “What the fuck am I doing with my life…?” Pfft, who knows?

**~April 7th, 2006; Rockford, Illinois~ (A/N: Mainly Actions, Tiny Amount of Dialogue)**

        Night having fallen once again as the day came to a close, the Winchesters and Selena made it back to the asylum that had been inactive the previous night, in hopes that something would occur this time around. Entering the building together, the three immediately headed straight for the doors that lead to the South Wing and with their gear in hand, the three shared looks with each other before Sam pushed open the left door of the South Wing entrance. Stepping into the next room (Sam first, Selena next, and Dean last), they paused as Sam opened up and turned on a video camera while turning on his flashlight, Dean pulling out the EMF meter while Selena held onto her own shining flashlight with Dean’s bag hanging from her left shoulder (she had asked to carry it beforehand). The EMF meter was lighting up like a candle, the spirits out and about that night unlike the last. The three of them walked down the hallway(s) they headed through the last time they were there, keeping close to one another. As they walked, they heard a noise behind them and all three of them turned around to see nothing at all, missing the spirit that had walked by. Getting back to it, they continued down the hallway and while Sam entered the room to the left, Dean and Selena both remained heading straight, causing the three to become slightly separated for the time being.

        For about a minute, Sam looked around the room with his video camera raised, looking through it for any signs of something supernatural, other than the orbs that were showing up on the footage nonstop. When he turned away from a corner of the room that he had looked at twice because of some noise he had heard, he jumped from startlement when an old woman suddenly came into his line of sight through the lens of the camera before he turned his eyes away from the camera and towards the spirit itself. He backed away from her with wide eyes and she approached him slowly in return, arms reached out towards Sam with her head tilted towards the right. Her hair was white from age and her left eye was bloody as hell, it hanging out of its socket; the sight of her was rather disturbing, actually. “Dean?” Sam called out. “Dean!” he exclaimed immediately afterwards, his voice louder. Dean and Selena both ran into the room, Selena rummaging through Dean’s bag at the same time. “Shotgun!” Sam exclaimed. Just as he yelled it, Selena grabbed the shotgun and she quickly handed it off to Dean, who pointed it at the spirit. Yelling for Sam to get down, Dean shot the woman as Sam threw himself to the ground and the spirit disintegrated upon contact with the salt filled bullet. “That was weird,” Sam commented as he gasped and got up, his breathing heavy like he had ran a marathon.

        “Yeah. You’re telling me,” Dean responded as he stared at Sam for a moment before he turned around, heading out of the room as he headed back towards where he and Selena had came from. Sam and Selena followed behind him, Selena silently checking on Sam to be certain that he was alright. That had been weird, indeed. Dean was used to spirits disintegrating and then reappearing to throw him against something. That hadn’t happened this time. This time, the spirit didn’t show up again and nor did a different sort of spirit. It was just so odd. The hunters had different opinions about this, though; Dean was just thinking that the spirit had a different strategy or something for going after them while Sam _and_ Selena both were thinking that perhaps not all of the spirits here in the asylum were bad.

        “No, Dean, I mean it was weird that she didn’t attack me,” Sam explained to Dean, revealing that while Dean was thinking the spirit was just biding its time for another attack, he (Sam) didn’t think the spirit wanted to attack period. Maybe the spirit wanted something else. Maybe it was trying to alert him. Though he hadn’t witnessed spirits doing this before now, he heard about there being some that would warn the living about something. Perhaps that could’ve been what it was doing. He couldn’t be sure about that, though.

        Selena nodded, agreeing with Sam. “I noticed such myself,” she commented. Though she still had a fear of spirits, she knew there was such a thing as kind and nonviolent spirits. Even so, she’d react to them as she reacts to every other spirit when facing them alone. “She was moving rather slowly to be someone that wanted to cause harm towards others. If I were to wish harm upon someone, I would go at them faster than that. I would not hesitate for a second, I would go for it.” She hoped to God that she’d never feel that way about anything.

        “It looked pretty aggro from where I was standing,” Dean remarked, disagreeing with them both as the three of them headed through the hallway slowly. He had the shotgun lowered at his right side but he was prepared to raise it and fire if he had to, his eyes shifting around as he eyed everything. He was being cautious. All of them should be cautious, regardless of if the spirits were mostly good or vise versa because it wasn’t worth the risk of death.

        Sam shook his head as he looked at Dean while they walked. Selena was trailing behind him. “She didn’t hurt me. She didn’t even try.” He was moving his arms around as he gestured while he talked. “So, if she didn’t wanna hurt me, then what did she want?” he questioned, mostly rhetorically. He kind of already had an idea of what the spirit wanted. Just needed to find out if he was correct or not and he still wasn’t sure how to go about doing that.

        The three of them stepped forward, slightly passing by an opened door to another room. “I suppose we shall have to figure that out somehow,” Selena commented in response. Immediately after she had finished speaking, a quiet noise came from the room that they had been passing by and it had sounded like a whimper. All three of them stopped walking immediately, their attention towards the overturned (laying on its side) metal bed that was covered in a ragged sheet; the noise came from behind it. Dean raised his shotgun for self defense and Sam flicked his flashlight back on, having turned it off earlier when the spirit incident happened (plus, he also didn’t have his camera out anymore). Selena, on the other hand, had her flashlight still on and she held onto Dean’s bag tightly as she followed the brothers into the room, shining her light towards the bed like Sam was with his own light; she followed behind them towards potential danger because it was better to stay close to them and face whatever this was together than for her to get separated from them and have to deal with something alone. As the hunters maneuvered into the room further, they spotted the top of a blonde head behind the overturned bed and they braced themselves for an attack, or for anything really. Sam reached out and he tipped the bed over, causing the young _human_ female to spin around quickly, her being completely terrified and she was gasping as she remained crouched in the corner, her skin dirty from the dust within the place and her clothing was slightly battered.

        Dean lowered the shotgun as Sam continued with keeping the flashlight on the poor frightened girl. Selena went into a protective mode, turning off her flashlight as she lowered Dean’s bag to the ground. As Dean began to speak to the scared girl, Selena placed her flashlight on the bag that she had sat down before she approached the girl slowly, not wanting to frighten her more. “It’s alright, we’re not going to hurt you. It’s okay. You can trust us,” Dean stated. He paused for a split second, gesturing towards Selena as Selena crouched down beside the girl slowly. Leave it to Selena to give care towards others, even if she didn’t know them. “Especially Selena, you can really trust her.” The girl turned her frightened eyes back and forth between the two before she nodded shortly, her eyes returning to Dean. Dean gestured towards himself and then to Sam. “I’m Dean, this is Sam. What’s your name?”

        The frightened teenaged female slowly stood up with Selena helping her, even though she didn’t need help to stand up. She appreciated the gesture, though, and she gave a tiny, scared smile to Selena. Selena smiled back as reassurance, having been hesitant to pat or rub the frightened girl’s back. The girl looked at Dean and Sam, speaking her name for the first time as her tone matched her emotions. “Katherine. Kat.” She stood where she was, unsure what to do as she was asked a question and she didn’t exactly answer it (which was “ _what are you doing here?_ ” and it had been asked by Sam), but then again, technically she did answer. “Um, my boyfriend, Gavin.” He had brought her there and he had vanished, having left her side. She was, then, asked a second question, this question being ‘ _is he here?_ ’ and it was asked by Dean. “Somewhere. He thought it would be fun, try and see some ghosts. I thought it was all just… You know… Pretend.” She sniffled as she closed her light jacket, feeling cold. She slightly leaned into Selena’s touch when she (Kat) felt Selena’s arm awkwardly move across her upper back (Selena basically giving Kat an awkward one-armed hug now). “I’ve seen things. I heard Gavin scream and…” Kat didn’t continue, but she didn’t have to.

        “Alright, Kat, come on.” Dean took a step towards her and Selena. “Sam and Selena are gonna get you out of here and then, we’re gonna find your boyfriend.” Two different things happened after he stated that. The first thing to happen were the reactions of Selena and Sam, Selena appearing happy to help Kat while Sam appeared to be uninterested in the idea of having to leave Dean inside the asylum for a bit (even though he was still pissed at him, he didn’t want to leave him alone with the spirits; that and he didn’t want to be on protection duty with Selena). The second thing was the reaction of Kat, her immediately and loudly disagreeing with leaving because she didn’t want to go without her boyfriend and she stated confidently that she was coming with them. “It’s no joke around here, okay. It’s dangerous,” Dean told her. Only response he got was more words that meant Kat wasn’t backing out of this. Dean and Sam shared a look with each other, both of them looking towards Selena (and Kat) afterwards. Selena just gestured towards Dean, letting him know that it was up to him rather or not the girl stayed or left; either way, she’d protect Kat with her life. Dean sighed. “Alright, I guess we’re gonna split up then. Let’s go.” He turned around and he headed out of the room, entering the hall again. Sam followed him out but he went in the opposite direction, following Dean’s little order.

        Selena gently pat Kat’s right shoulder as she lead the female out of the room, keeping her arm secure around the young girl’s shoulders for the time being. Along the way out, Selena grabbed her flashlight and Dean’s bag with her free hand. “Please, do stay close to Dean and myself,” Selena instructed Kat as she made herself and the girl go down the hallway that Dean had slightly walked down (Dean was waiting for them a little ways ahead). Her reasoning for choosing to follow Dean was because she felt a tad bit safer around him than she felt such when around Sam. “Do not wander away,” Selena continued in warning. “We do not wish for you to be encountered while alone again.”

        “Believe me, I don’t plan on it,” Kat commented, shaking her head as she and Selena reached Dean. “I don’t want to deal with that again,” she continued as she, Selena, and Dean walked down the hallway together. Conversations died down after that moment.

        For a while, the three of them headed down the hallway, several hallways actually. Dean lead the way, Kat and Selena trailing kind of close behind him. Selena was no longer to Kat’s left and she was no longer keeping an arm around the younger female, instead being to Kat’s right now with her arms to her sides. The three of them were silent, apart from Kat’s occasional call for Gavin. Dean looked into the rooms that they passed by with his flashlight but he never made a move to enter them, nor did the females that followed him because that would be stupid. Kat was holding the flashlight that Selena had originally be using, having been given something to do by Selena, whom was still carrying Dean’s bag on her left shoulder. The light of Dean’s flashlight began to fade all of a sudden until it shut off completely, causing everyone to pause their walking. “You son of a bitch,” Dean cursed at the dead flashlight, shaking it to try and bring it back to life.

        As Kat handed Dean the flashlight that she had been holding onto for a bit, Selena felt something holding onto her right arm and she knew that it wasn’t Kat, and she _definitely_ knew that it wasn’t Dean. Gulping as she felt the hand gripping onto her tighter, she decided to voice what was occurring towards her to Kat and Dean. Well, she didn’t exactly voice it but still, she kind of let them know that something was happening. “Is someone holding my arm?” she asked in an almost quiet tone. She knew it wasn’t her imagination, so it was likely a spirit holding onto her. She just didn’t want it to be true. As Dean and Kat turned to face her, all three of them looked down towards Selena’s right arm and they spotted a disembodied hand clutching it. Within seconds, Selena was dragged into the nearby room quickly, causing her to drop Dean’s bag to the ground within the hallway, and the metal door slammed shut behind her as she released a terrified scream upon being shoved within a room away from the others. Dean raced to the door, Kat standing away from it, and he struggled to pull it open. “Let me out!” Selena yelled from the other side of the door as she lost her composure, banging on the door loudly. Additionally, she attempted to force the door back open but it wouldn’t budge. She was trapped inside the room with the spirit.

        Outside of the room that Selena was trapped within, Dean was trying his damn hardest to get her out of there. He had gotten a metal pipe from off the ground, beginning to try and jimmy open the door, but it was to no avail; nothing was working. Inside the room, Selena stopped banging on the door and she backed away from it, too terrified to think about using her powers in this moment of need and she eyed the corners of the room. She suddenly felt breath on the back of her neck and she spun around quickly, seeing nothing in sight. She could hear Dean continuing to bang on the door, her knowing that he was trying to help her. She just hoped that he would hurry up. She felt herself become almost frozen as she felt a presence beside her and she glanced to her left, releasing another scream as she stared at the tall, heavy-set, long oily dark haired, bloody faced male spirit. She backed away from it slowly, shaking like a leaf as fear-tears began spilling down her cheeks. She could hear voices outside the room, hearing more than just Dean and Kat, which indicated that Sam had rejoined them and he had brought Gavin along with him. She didn’t pay much attention to their exchanged words as she eyed the spirit that was backing her into a corner. She let out a very loud whimper as her back hit the wall, finding herself having nowhere else to go to keep away from the slowly approaching spirit.

        “Selena!” she heard Sam yell from the other side of the door. “I know you’re scared but it’s not going to hurt you!” Well, duh, she knew that much because of what she witnessed earlier with the other spirit, but that didn’t mean that she had to like it and that additionally didn’t mean that she didn’t have the right to be terrified regardless. Sure, she faced plenty of spirits but most of those spirits, she didn’t deal with them because of fear and the ones she did deal with, she had pushed her fear away beforehand. This time, she had to deal with the fear while dealing with the spirit. “You’ve got to face it! You’ve got to calm down!” Sam continued. Selena could hear words being exchanged to Sam, words coming from Dean and he sounded astonished by what Sam had just told Selena. Selena didn’t even bother answering back, she just kept whimpering as the spirit grew closer, her eyes locked on it still. “They’re trying to communicate! You gotta face it! You gotta listen to it! It’s the only way to get out of there! You can do it!” Selena was silently wishing that Sam would just shut up because she knew absolutely everything that he was saying since she was able to draw her on conclusion about the current incident. She was already facing it or otherwise, she would still be screaming her ass off; she was accepting it, despite how scared she was because she knew there was no other way out of this mess that she was temporarily suck in. When the spirit got up close and personal, she allowed it to lean closer to her ear as she shook more and she listened to its whisper. God, she was never doing this again…

        Dean looked over at Sam from outside the door. He didn’t like this. He didn’t like being unable to help Selena in a crisis. He hated that she was being forced to face her fear like this. He’d honestly give anything to be in her place right now. “Man, I hope you’re right about this or Riley’s gonna kill _you_.” If Sam was wrong and Selena got hurt or got infected with that whole rage thing that was happening in that asylum, Riley would strangle him. Hell, she’d probably strangle them both and hang them from a tree by their balls. Selena better come out of this okay or he might have to be the one to kill Sam for this because it was really risky.

        “Yeah, me too,” Sam responded, his eyes staring nervously at the door. God, Selena was gonna hate him for this, wasn’t she? There hadn’t been anything else he or Dean could’ve done to get her out of there. She needed to do this alone. She needed to be brave and face this fear of hers head on. The lock on the door clicked suddenly and the door slowly opened on its own, Selena standing on the other side of it with her right hand up to her mouth as she shook, her teeth biting into her finger slightly. “Lena,” Sam sighed in relief, glad to see that she was okay. Selena let out another whimper, tears streaming down her cheeks and Dean pulled her to him, giving her a much needed hug as Sam entered the room that she had gotten out of. Sam came back quickly, shaking his head at Dean after being unable to find the spirit. Whatever had happened, Selena would have to tell them because the spirit had the clue they needed.

        “Do not allow me to do that again,” Selena whimpered as she held onto Dean. “Do not make me do it ever again…” That was frightening, but she’d get over it. Eventually. She moved away from Dean, moving out of the hug and she turned towards Sam. “Next time, you are the one who is going to face it,” she stated, making it clear that she wasn’t doing that crap ever again. “It… The spirit, he whispered a room number… One thirty-seven.” She gulped as she looked between the brothers, her attention remaining away from Kat and Gavin (the couple that had reunited while Selena was being scared out of her pants). “D-Did I do good?” she asked, deserving some praise for this, at least.

        “Yeah,” Dean commented. He pat her shoulder awkwardly. “Yeah, you did good, Len.” Selena smiled slightly to herself as she looked down at her feet, tears still going down her cheeks. That hadn’t been too bad, but she still wasn’t ever doing it again. Screw that bullcrap. Riley could’ve handled that situation better if she had been here. She rather it had been Riley or one of the brothers that had gone through that instead of her because they would’ve handled it better. Well, at least she was able to kind of face her fear head on, despite that she hadn’t really wanted to do that. Maybe her fear wouldn’t strengthen this time because of that, maybe it’ll weaken and eventually vanish. One could only hope.

        With that incident being over with, everyone split up. Again. Sam went to get Gavin and Kat out of there while Selena went with Dean to find room one-thirty seven. Dean hadn’t wanted Selena to go with him after what happened but she insisted since she didn’t want him to be alone in his search. So, here they were walking down the hallway together, Dean lighting up the way with his flashlight while Selena carried his stuff. Before long, Dean shined the flashlight on the room that the spirit had mentioned to Selena. He moved to open the door but Selena beat him to it since she was closest to it (they had been walking side by side and Selena was to his left, along with the room that they needed to enter). Selena pushed against the door and she had to use her weight to push aside the broken furniture that was blocking it. When the door opened up, she fell forwards but Dean caught her by wrapping his arms around her waist momentarily. After making sure Selena was steady on her feet again, Dean released his hold on her and they walked around the room. The room was a complete mess, filing cabinets pushed over with papers everywhere and the walls were stained with some sort of substance.

        Dean shined the flashlight around the room as he and Selena walked through it. He temporarily stopped walking to flick through some folders that were lying in the nearby cabinet before he moved onward with looking. Selena proved to be useful as she eventually spotted a loose panel near a desk and she pried it off to find a satchel full of papers, receiving some praise from Dean because of her discovery. Removing the satchel of papers from the previously hidden space, Dean opened it, finding a journal with many notes and hand-drawn pictures of medical instruments. He took a seat as he read through the journal, a look of concern appearing on his face. A look of fright reappeared on Selena’s face as she read over his shoulder and she forced herself to look away to avoid reading more horrible things. Seconds later, she heard a noise towards where she was looking and she grabbed onto Dean’s jacket as Dean looked towards where the noise occurred. Before long, the two of them got the hell outta there.

        The two hunters made their way towards the exit of the South Wing, assuming that they’d be meeting Sam back towards that general area. However, upon turning a corner, the two of them spotted Kat about to pull the trigger of the shotgun in her hand. Immediately, Dean threw himself and Selena back around the corner as Kat fired at the corner of the wall. After cursing like a sailor and getting Kat to lower her weapon, Dean came around the corner with Selena and soon, both of them learnt that Sam had been lured down to the basement. Together, Dean and Selena headed to the basement to find Sam. It didn’t take them long to find Sam since he scared the shit outta them when he appeared out of nowhere but the bad news was that Sam wasn’t fully Sam, he was more full of rage Sam and they weren’t fully aware of that fact. Taking turns explaining things to Sam, Dean and Selena told him about Ellicott’s experiments on the patients that rioted against him before they both began the search for the hidden room that his body was likely hidden within while Sam followed behind them. When they finally discovered the location of said room, Sam’s rage infection was revealed after he knocked out Selena, by hitting her in the head with the end of the shotgun he was holding, and he pointed said shotgun at Dean.

        A lot happened after that. For starters, Sam shot Dean with rock salt and it sent Dean flying into the hidden room. Secondly, Sam started spilling out all of the emotions that he had hidden from Dean. Thirdly, Dean handed Sam an unloaded gun and Sam pulled the trigger, showing that not even brotherly love could stop the rage infection that Ellicott gave Sam. Fourthly, Dean knocked Sam out. Finally, Dean found Ellicott’s body but was attacked by Ellicott while he was trying to burn the corpse; nonetheless, Dean managed to finish the job and ended Ellicott’s reign of terror. With everything over with and after those unconscious became conscious once again, the three hunters and the two almost victims were finally able to leave the asylum. Sending Gavin and Kat on their merry way, Sam apologized to Selena for hurting her but while she forgave him, she stated that Riley was gonna kick his ass for what he did, regardless of it mainly being the fault of a spirit. Sam, also, attempted to talk to Dean about what happened but Dean dismissed him, not wanting to talk about it. With that said and done, the three got into the Impala and they headed to the motel where Riley was awaiting. Boy, did they have some shit to tell her…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Trivia":
> 
> 1) This trivia section is no longer how it use to be. Oh well. Ideas change, people change. This is officially just an author's note that is named differently and is listed. Occasionally, for original chapters, I'll actually put something worthy of trivia like I use to do. Additionally, hints to future chapters will also be considered part of what the trivia once was. Anyways, this chapter was probably a success. I took so damn long making it because I kept rereading the first two scenes. I couldn't help myself. I've got a problem. I'm hoping to overcome it someday so that updating will be faster for this story, as it is for my other fanfics when I actually work on those fanfics. I'm hoping to finish this book in the next several months because, well, it's getting closer to its ending; it's about halfway through and that's a damn achievement for me 'cause it usually takes me over a year before hitting the halfway point nowadays. I'm proud of myself.
> 
> 2) Selena didn't use any of her powers this chapter! Wow! That's something new! Riley didn't use hers either! Also, isn't Riley something else when she's stuck in a motel room alone? By the way, Rachel and Paolo are names of characters from Friends (and in the future, there will be a few more references to Friends that I will add into this series but I'm not sayin' what they'll be). Anyways, here marks the first episodic chapter where Riley and Selena both don't use their powers. As you have learned from the chapter, Riley doesn't use her powers because she has no need to do such and Selena doesn't use her powers because of both the Doppelganger possibly waking back up and her being unconscious during a period of time where she definitely would've used her power (aka, she would've helped Dean with the spirit). My reasoning for doing this was because it somewhat feels like the sisters are always technically saving the day.
> 
> 3) It wasn't mentioned, I don't think, but everything that was within Riley's car had been either destroyed or had been damaged enough that it wasn't salvageable. Damaged weapons were found, of course, but lies were made to cover up what the weapons really were for. Sorry for leaving that out, but I couldn't find a place to fit that in. Least, I think I never mentioned it.
> 
> 4) The next chapter will be continuing off where this one stopped. Additionally, it shall be a long chapter and it'll be flipping back and forth between what Dean's doing and what's Sam's doing. My reasoning for doing that is because while the brothers are splitting up, so are the half-sisters and it's obvious with who is going with who in the next chapter. By the way, this still isn't a story where both sisters are dating both brothers and I still find those kinds of stories to be awkward as hell. The only definite pairings thus far are Dean x Riley and Sam x Juliet. I am still not entirely sure whom to pair Selena with for the series but it's a definite tie between Meg, Castiel, and Lucifer so far.
> 
> 5) Sam doesn't want Selena and Riley to know about his abilities because he isn't sure what this all means yet, meaning he isn't sure if it is good or bad so he wants to keep them in the dark in case it is bad (which it is and isn't at the same time). That's basically what I was saying in those paragraphs where Sam's powers were briefly discussed and dismissed. I apologize if Sam was out of character in that moment or if I confused you with my words at that part. If he was out of character, well, I did warn you that I'll accidentally get them out of character at times. Mostly, I try to be spot on with how the characters originally were. Please stick around regardless of whatever happens, character and story wise. I'd hate for you to leave when this series has only just gotten started. You'd miss out on so much!
> 
> 6) Sorry it took so long to finally publish this chapter and I apologize for the semi-rushed final scene. I didn't have much dialogue in mind for it so I chose to go without most of it, instead using actions like I had with Hook Man's final/almost final scene. I apologize if this chapter didn't turn out very grand because I had a lot of difficulty with it. Don't make it result in your living the story behind, though. Please, do continue reading and continue enjoying. Not all of my chapters will be up to "perfect" standards.


	15. Scarecrow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Dean and Sam Winchester have a little argument about what they were gonna do regarding their father whom suddenly contacted them, the Winchesters and the Grant-Piers siblings split up temporarily. Dean and Riley Piers go to hunt in Indiana while Sam and Selena Grant head to seek John Winchester in California. Will bonding occur? Probably, yeah. Will shit happen? Most likely, yeah. Will they meet new people? Well, duh, when don't they? Have you not been reading this fanfiction that's taken years for me to update (XD)?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Original and Unoriginal Content/Dialogue, Difficulty With Some Descriptions of Character Appearances/Scenery, Low/High Possibilities of Unrealistic and Realistic Actions/Reactions, Low/High Possibility of Incorrect Information/Out of Character Moments, Errors of Any Sort, Long Chapter Ahead of You, Scenes/Dialogue From Episode Are Missing, Small Changes Were Made to Episode, First Appearance of Meg 1.0 (Yes, Bitch, She's Here; Queen! Wife! Lover! Darling! Ahhh! I'll Do This With Meg 2.0, Too, If I Manage To Ever Get There!), Violence, Very Slight Gore, Separation of the Group, Reunion of the Group, Power Usage Is Minimal
> 
> I apologize greatly for the very super extremely long wait for the occurrence of this update (over five months since the last update and it has been a few weeks since that moment in time in which this story became a year old, good gosh])! I've been super busy with other fanfics (idea wise, not update wise), my book (re-editing all of what I've written already at an extremely slow pace because I kept switching between past and present tense when it should have just been present tense at most), and life (lots of laziness occurred, still trying to lose weight, and I'm still trying to attempt to fix my posture 'cause hump-back occurrence DX And recently just learnt (or rediscovered) that my shoulders are no longer aligned so I gotta work on fixing that problem, too, now DX Yikes for my problems in life)! Fingers crossed that another chapter or two gets posted next month and not half a year from now. Happy Late Birthday to myself (July 28th, for future reference and stuff, I guess? *shrugs*), I'm 21 now, biotches. I hope no one is disappointed with this chapter, but not sorry if you are cause I did my bestest.
> 
> Nina Dobrev as Selena Grant  
> Hayden Panettiere as Riley Piers

_I know you know, I'm wrapped around your finger_  
_You're so, you're so beautiful and dangerous_  
_Hot and cold, don't you see the light, boy_  
_I could blow your mind, boy, let me be your new toy_

_(Boy Like You : Ke$ha)_

* * *

**~(Approximately) Between April 8th-15th, 2006; Uncertain Location~**

        Riley Piers had never been so pissed off with someone she hadn't even met in her entire life; seriously, she never had been pissed off to the extreme by someone that wasn't ever in her line of vision. Sure, there had been plenty of persons that had pissed her off occasionally in the past and in the present, namely (for example) Dean Winchester, but those people all had one thing in common with one another and that was the fact that Riley had actually met them in person, face-to-face and everything. This one person in particular, however, made all of those people look like they were fucking amateurs when it came to pissing someone off to the maximum; John Winchester was a goddamn douche-bagged son of a bitch and Riley hadn't even spoken a damn word to the man, nor had she even laid eyes on him and she never even heard the man speak a single fucking word ( _not in person, anyways_ ). But, nonetheless, he was the main cause of her current fit of rage and that was something that she should've expected to happen because this long ass goose chase was some fucking bullshit.

        You see, what had happened was that something super unexpected occurred that very morning and it sure as hell had been far too damn early when it happened. She and the others had been sleeping peacefully when Dean's cell-phone began ringing loudly throughout the formerly silent motel room, and it had alerted Riley and Sam Winchester into awakening while Dean and Selena Grant remained sleeping for the time being. Riley groaned as she sat up in the bed that she shared with Dean, watching as Sam answered the cell-phone and as she released a long yawn, she quickly snapped out of her sleepy state when she heard Sam respond to the very man that they've been searching forever for, the very man that was currently the main reason of Riley being so pissed off to the max. Throughout the entire conversation, Riley kept close attention towards Sam's expressions, ignoring the fact that Selena and Dean had awakened from their slumbers. From what she could make out, the creature that killed Jess ( _and_  the Winchesters' mother) was a demon and John was after it (as anyone could have expected) while being right on its tail (apparently). She felt the first bursts of anger entering her body when she saw Sam's inner frustration and rage appear on his face; she could only assume that John wasn't saying shit about anything. Soon enough, Dean had gotten the phone from Sam, but after asking one question of where John was, he immediately dismissed every other question he had in mind while he did exactly what his father wanted him to do, which pissed Riley off even further.

        Now, Riley was sitting in the back of the Impala, fuming in the darkness (it was early morning, the sun not yet up in the sky). Her fingertips were gripping her unbuttoned light-brown flannel shirt tightly, her eyes glaring upon the back of Sam’s seat. She was desperately trying to ignore the brothers as they talked about the new case they were heading off to do, but it was rather hard to zone them out since the case had been given to them by the jackass that pissed her off in the first place. She removed her fingers from her shirt and she gripped her blue jeans tightly instead, her brown-boot covered foot pushing tightly against her cast-covered one (yeah, she still had her cast on and she was gonna have it for a long while, so she needed to get use to having one pant leg occasionally rolled up and having to wear only one shoe for the time being; at the very least, her stitches had been removed and her remaining cuts were healing up nicely, though some of them still needed to be covered with bandages to avoid any accidental ripping of the scabs).

        Sitting beside Riley, Selena was watching her with great concern; she wasn’t entirely certain why Riley was in such a terrible mood, but she knew that nothing good would come out of it and she was awaiting for the moment where Riley would explode in verbal rage. After a few moments, Selena looked away from Riley and she wrapped her bright blue blazer (every other part of her outfit was blue, too; her v-neck, jeans, and shoes) around herself further, not because she was cold but because she felt like it would comfort her; this case was going to be different, she just knew it. Something was gonna happen and something about it just wasn’t gonna be good. On the bright side and amongst other matters, she'd be able to remove her right arm's cast soon, since she was a faster healer than others, and she no longer had any cuts on her person, nor did she have any scars.

        Sam was driving the Impala, which was a very rare occurrence but since Dean had noticed that Sam had become upset with the call from their father, he allowed Sam to drive his vehicle again in an attempt to calm him down. Even though he was behind the wheel this time around, Sam wasn't any less frustrated and angry than he already had been; not even being the driver of the Impala was gonna cheer him up after what he endured. He did, however, seem to be trying his damn best to keep his frustrations and his anger problems to himself, not wanting to start anything up. "Alright, so, the names Dad gave us, they're all couples?" he asked Dean as he tried to keep his eyes on the road ahead of them.

        Dean was riding shotgun (for the first time in a long while), chilling within the passenger's seat as he skimmed through various articles and maps while referring to the list of names that he had written down, the latter in which his father had ordered him to do when they had been speaking to each other on the cell-phone. He kept his attention towards the objects in front of him, nodding even though he knew Sam wasn't paying enough attention to him to see such action and he answered verbally as well, because he already figured that Sam probably hadn't seen him nod since he was driving. "Three different couples, all went missing."

        Sam wanted to believe very badly that this was a hunt, he really did, but most of his thoughts were pointing towards doubt. John probably read too much into the potential case and now, here they were, probably about to waste their time with something that  _probably_  had nothing to do with the supernatural.  _Probably_. Sam usually tended to be wrong when this shit happened, but still, he believed this was nothing of too much importance. "And they're all from different towns, different states?" he asked, wanting all of their current information straight before he completely made up his mind on what he thought about this situation. Although, he'd probably still doubt everything, even if there was some pretty hard evidence of a case.

        "That's right. You got Washington, New York, Colorado. Each couple took a road trip cross-country. None of them arrived at their destination and none of them were ever heard from again," Dean told Sam, and the sisters as well since the Grant-Piers siblings were silently listening into the conversation. Selena shifted uncomfortably in her seat after hearing the information, but Riley didn't seem to care all that much about this potential case. What Riley cared about right now was trying to prove that John was just a nutcase that was obsessed with finding something to kill; she hated him that much right now.

        Riley released her grip on her jeans as she tried not to clench her teeth whilst speaking, wanting to contain her anger. Mostly. "Maybe it was a mere coincidence, Dean. Your father could just be off his meds right now." Those poor choice of words made Dean look towards her with a dangerous glare. She bit the inside of her cheek for a moment, reaching towards her ring to twirl it anxiously, before she continued speaking to Dean. She didn't take back those words, but she did rephrase the meaning of them to avoid any conflict that could possibly occur from her insulting John in front of the man's own sons. "I mean, he's been chasing a demon for months now, right? A hunt like that can wear someone out, enough to make them think everything's a hunt when they read about something like this. I would know, I've seen it happen before." She didn't just see that happen before, she did such herself in the far past when she and Selena first began hunting for the supernatural (she was really eager for hunts back then). And about her plan to prove that John was a nutcase, she didn't want to do that anymore, not if Dean was gonna glare at her like that; she'd rather not get ran over by the Impala or be stabbed whilst sleeping, because no, thank you.

        Sam didn't make a move to even slightly defend his father's sanity, his mind not entirely in the right place since he was kind of mad at his dad right that moment. He did, however, show that he agreed with something that Riley had stated. "Yeah, it's a big country, Dean. They could've disappeared anywhere." This potential case honestly could be nothing at all and it was probably just a waste of time, as he had been thinking the entire time they've been having this conversation. Even if it was actually a case, he didn't give a shit because he'd rather be looking for his father since John was the key to him finally getting some revenge for what happened to Jess.

        "Yeah, could've," Dean commented, his eyes on the articles, list of names, and maps again (since he had long been done with glaring at Riley because of her comment). "But each one's route took 'em to the same part of Indiana. Always on the second week of April." He looked over at Sam while Sam glanced away from the road momentarily to look towards him. "One year after another, after another," Dean continued in statement before he looked back at everything that he held in his grasp. This was most definitely a hunt, whether Sam liked it or not.

        Selena leaned forward in her seat, the fingers of her left hand fumbling across her cast as she began speaking up. She was no longer comforting herself, her blazer resting against her normally. "It is not a mere coincidence, then," she stated, glancing over at Riley with confusion in her eyes. She had expected such thoughts of doubt from Sam, but she never expected those thoughts to come from Riley too, especially since Riley normally would go along with anything she had heard. Selena glanced away from Riley and she looked towards the front seat again, looking at the back of Dean's chair (the passenger's seat). "Do you have anything in mind as to what could be the cause of this, Dean?" she asked. Dean shook his head in response as he glanced towards the backseat before he looked back at everything in his hand. Selena sighed lowly and she slouched in disappointment. "That surely is a pity. I suppose we will have to double our research when we get there." Normally, the four hunters had a little bit of an idea as to what was  _possibly_  occurring (they were occasionally wrong with their first guesses) since they normally had some sort of clue to start off with, but the only clue that they had this time around was that things were going down in some part of Indiana and it was always happening at a very specific time on a very specific date. That wasn't much to really go by.

        There was a very, very short moment of silence after Selena had spoken before Sam started talking again. "This  _is_  the second week of April," he stated in realization, having been thinking about it for a bit. Dean hummed in agreement whilst Selena nodded in agreement to this statement of Sam's. Riley, on the other hand, she was practically biting down on her tongue as she held back a growl; she didn't like the fact that John had researched a lot because that just meant that she had been wrong to doubt him, even though she really,  _really_  wanted to continue doubting the bastard that she never met. "So, Dad is sending us to Indiana to go hunting for something before another couple vanishes?" Sam questioned, his frustration and anger already on the verge of coming out into the open now. All that his anger and frustration needed now was a little push and Sam would be over the edge of his limit.

        Riley huffed unhappily. "Sounds like it, doesn't it?" She shook her head, rolling her eyes in annoyance at all this information that she learnt. So, the bastard had actually given them a case, one that was very,  _very_  likely to be real. That was not a big fucking deal, to be honest. So, who cares if she had been wrong to doubt the jackass? Just because he was correct, that didn't mean she was gonna suddenly and magically like the man 'cause he was still a dick in her eyes. She hoped that he'd rot in Hell someday; she'd probably regret thinking that later in life but right now, she was just pissed off that she was wrong and to think, all this hatred was because she hated that John was being kind of secretive (plus, she hated that Dean could so easily dismiss everything to do what the man wanted). "I probably should take back the nutcase comment I made earlier," she began slowly, after a moment of silence had passed by. "But, I'm not gonna do that because I'm still pretty sure that the man is one." She crossed her arms stubbornly, shaking her head again as a tiny hint of a smirk appeared on her angry face. She was mostly just saying that to make herself feel better about being wrong; she really hated to be wrong.

        Dean turned to glare at Riley once again before he looked towards Sam, his glare quickly gone. The only reason why he wasn't saying much in defense of his father was because he was use to Riley being an occasional bitch towards people she didn't know well. He was certain that she'd grow to understand his father's ways. Eventually. "Can you imagine putting together a pattern like this? All the different obits Dad had to go through? The man's a master," he told Sam. Immediately, the annoyance that Sam was hiding, along with frustration and anger, became visible as he began to pull over on the side of the road. Dean looked around for a few seconds before he looked at Sam questionably, some confusion in his expression. "What are you doing?" he asked Sam as the younger Winchester turned off the vehicle. Exactly what in the hell had just happened? Was it something he said?

        Concern was written all over Selena's face as she looked towards Sam from the backseat. "Sam? Is something the matter?" she questioned him. She hadn't expected him to pull over like that. Usually, he'd just deal with everything whilst dealing with the case. Maybe this was what she had been feeling, maybe this was what would make everything different than the usual hunting ordeal. Additionally, how the hell had she known something bad was to happen? Good instincts?

        Sam looked out the driver's window for a split second before he looked forward, his teeth almost clenching together from all the emotions that he was feeling right that moment. "We're not going to Indiana," he proclaimed. Hearing disbelief from Riley and Dean ( _That so?/We're not?_ ), he continued. "No, we're going to California," he told them. Riley scoffed and rolled her eyes while Dean continued staring at Sam in disbelief. Sam looked towards Dean, giving him a look. "Dad called from a payphone. Sacramento area code," he continued further. "Dean, if this demon killed Mom and Jess, and Dad's closing in, we've gotta be there. We've gotta help." This had been their plan, hadn't it? They had been searching for their father, with Selena and Riley's help, so that they could all work together to get rid of that monster once and for all. They couldn't just forget that plan and get sidetracked with some case that their father is sending them off to do again. No, they needed to find him now and get this shit on the road finally.

        Riley scoffed again, making it clear that she didn't agree with what he was saying. Sure, she'd like to help get rid of the demon and she had promised that she'd help the Winchesters locate their father, but this was just ridiculous. She wasn't just gonna drop this case to go look for the man, even if she wasn't fond of the fact that the man in question had been the one to give them this case. She wasn't about to let more innocent people go missing. Overall, she mainly just preferred doing this case over going after John, if she was entirely honest with herself. "No offense, you two, but your father can suck a big fat dick for all I care. He's honestly not even worth going after. Also, he clearly doesn't want either of you there, so why even bother going after his crazy ass? Let the bastard get himself killed. You're better off without him."

        Dean, for yet another time, turned towards the backseat so that he could glare at Riley once again. This time, however, he actually said something to her. It wasn't exactly harsh, though. 'Least he defended his father, sort of. "He's just trying to protect us. So, would you just shut the hell up, Riley?" he demanded as he glared at her, his tone full of rage that was directed towards her. Or maybe the rage wasn't entirely turned towards her, maybe the rage was also towards Sam but was being fully placed on just Riley in that moment. Who really knows. Riley glared back at him and he turned away from her, looking at Sam as he completely missed the finger that Riley sent his way. His expression softened a bit when his eyes locked on Sam, but it was clear that he was still mad and that he was on the verge of becoming frustrated himself. "Look, Sam, Dad doesn't want our help," he pointed out again but more bluntly, saying something Riley had stated bluntly as well except he said it in a more decent manner.

        "I don't care," Sam told him. Seriously, he really didn't give a shit. They had been searching for the man for so damn long, they can't just pass up this opportunity to find him. He could vanish from their radar again if they don't do something about this now. They can't wait until after the case, that was definitely out of question. So, another couple would go missing or die or whatever. That was a sacrifice he was willing to make because getting to his father was the task he placed above all other things. Revenge was more important in his mind, for right now.

        "No fucking duh, Sam," Riley sarcastically remarked from the backseat, rolling her eyes as she huffed out a breath. She could almost sense an argument just waiting to happen between Dean and Sam. It hadn't been too many days since the last argument the two had; hell, they had one the previous day when they (the brothers and Selena) got back from the asylum they checked out. She was pissed off enough already, but if those two started arguing about what was gonna happen, she was gonna burn them to a crisp in less than three seconds. She did not want to deal with that shit this early in the morning.

        Selena appeared to become a bit panicked when the tension inside the vehicle began to become far more noticeable, worry and fear mixed within her expression as she grabbed onto her pendant anxiously. She glanced between the two Winchester brothers as she fumbled with her pendant continuously, not wishing for an argument to break out again. She didn't like it when they argued. "Please, do not start your arguments again. Not now. Before this gets any more out of hand, please refrain from speaking further about this topic. You do not wish to do anything you'd regret, yes?" As usual, or as she tended to do every now and then, Selena was trying to make things dial down a notch or two because it was better to be calm than to think or act rashly.

        Dean completely ignored her pleas. Or rather, he paid no attention to the fact that she had spoken. Sam, however, actually was ignoring her on purpose. "He's given us an order, Sam," Dean stated, not wanting to disappoint their father by ignoring his request.

        Riley groaned in the background. “Ugh, don’t remind me…” she muttered.

        "I don't care," Sam stated again but more firmly, keeping his eyes locked on Dean's. He wasn't taking back his words, he wasn't taking back anything. He was sticking to the plan that he was drawing out in his head, the plan that lead to defeating the demon that ruined their lives. "We don't always have to do what he says," he pointed out to Dean, speaking as though he was trying to make a point. But seriously though, they could just ditch this plan of doing the case and head straight to California where their father was currently at. In his (Sam's) mind, that was the  _only_  option but he wanted Dean to be at his side with the decision. Sure, Riley and Selena would probably be at his side, with some slight reluctance, but he didn't just want them with him on this, he needed his brother with him, too. They were a team and he wanted them to remain as such.

        Selena butted into the conversation after that comment, trying to keep the peace and trying to remove the tension that was continuing to stir around within the air of the Impala. "I apologize greatly for my intrusion into this very open conversation, but I have got something to say to you both and I would appreciate it if you  _both_  would listen to me this time." Both brothers turned their bodies so that they could look towards the backseat in a more comfortable manner, both making it visibly clear that they were listening to her. "Thank you. While Sam does make a very good point with the fact that you don't always have to listen to a parental figure, I must say that we cannot just simply drop this case to do something else because that is just heartless and cruel, allowing another couple to become a victim of whatever it is that's occurring. Additionally, we should just save lives because we want to, not because we were ordered to. That is what matters the most here, saving lives of the innocent because we all just happen to be really great beings." Because of whom they were, she was positive that all of them felt that wanting urge of wishing to save the innocent. She was certain that Sam would choose the case over John in this moment because of this matter or otherwise, he'd be considered selfish. She didn't realize how wrong she was, though, because she wasn't thinking of Sam's wishes for revenge and sometimes, the want of revenge was more powerful than anything else and she knew this from experiencing such with Riley.

        Sam sighed, shaking his head slightly as he stared at Selena. "I understand. Believe me, I understand, but I'm talking one week here to get answers, Selena." He glanced over at Dean. "To get revenge, like Riley had." He most certainly should  _not_  had brought that up, not at this time. He  _might_  had been thinking that Riley would side with him on that thought since she had such thoughts of her own before, but nope.

        "Whoa!" Riley exclaimed, lifting her hands up in defense as Dean and Sam looked at her. She was glaring at Sam with a load of hatred as she dropped her hands to her thighs. Why the shit did he have to bring that up? She'd much rather have that moment left in the past. "Hold the goddamn motherfucking phone!" She placed a hand to her face for a moment, considering the idea of contemplating what she should say before she just decided to say whatever the fuck she wanted to without a second thought. "Who the fuck said you could use my poor example as an excuse to get some revenge?! You're fucking nuts! You may be just as crazy as your father!" She threw her arms out, almost hitting one arm against the window of the vehicle they all were still sitting inside and she looked up towards the ceiling. "God, where are you when I actually need you?!" She was on the verge of a mental breakdown by this point. All these  _stupid_  conversations, decision making moments, and arguments were gonna make her explode one of these fucking days. She looked back at the brothers, contemplating on whether or not she should try strangling them to death after severely burning them. "Why the hell am I friends with you two? You guys are gonna kill me dead one of these days," she stated in a slightly calmer tone, though her anger was far from gone.

        "Hey, if you want out, there's the door," Dean told her roughly, pointing towards one of the backseat doors. "We never asked you to tag along with us." Sure, he was being a bit of a dick at the moment, but this whole conversation had made his positive mood sour, thanks to Riley's bitchiness. "And if you insult our father again, I'll drag you outta the damn car myself," he added on harshly as he glared at Riley, having enough of her shit. Riley glared back at him, but she kept her mouth shut, for the time being. Dean looked over at Sam. "She's right about one thing, Sam, and that's about her example being a poor one and you definitely shouldn't use  _her_  as an example to go through with this." He sighed and paused for a moment before he continued speaking. "Look, I know how you feel," he began but before he could proceed further, he was interrupted by his younger sibling.

        "Do you?" Sam questioned him immediately, practically challenging Dean to prove that he (Sam) was wrong to question him. Dean appeared to become shocked at the tone Sam was using all of a sudden. Selena appeared to be heavily surprised that this conversation wasn't being stopped and that Sam was only making matters worse for them all. Riley appeared to become more pissed off. "How old were you when Mom died? Four?" Sam questioned. "Jess died six months ago." In the backseat, the pissed off expression on Riley's face flickered to surprise for a second before it went back to being complete rage on her face; she was surprised she and Selena knew these guys for that long, give or take a few weeks, and time had flew by faster than she had thought originally. "How the hell would you know how I feel?" Sam gestured towards the backseat, towards Riley as he brought her up again. "Only Riley knows how I feel and she did exactly what I want to do."

        Riley threw her arms out again, howling in pain when she hit the window this time. Rubbing her arm, she glared at Sam once again when Sam looked towards her again. "What the hell, Sam?! Would you just-?!" She grabbed at her head, so close to just pulling her hair out violently. "Goddamn it all!" She was growling a lot suddenly and that put everyone on edge further. "Would ya stop fucking mentioning me already?! I know that I'm a bad fucking influence, but goddamn, shut up with your ' _Riley did this'_  and ' _Riley did that_ ' bullshit! And who gives a flying fuck how old Dean was when your mother passed away tragically?! The death of your mother affected him just the same, regardless of his age! You had no fuckin' right to talk as if he doesn't know anything about how you feel because you were a fucking  _baby_  when your mother died, so you didn't get to know her like Dean had! He may not had felt much back then because he was young, but he feels enough about it now! And about all that shit you said about me!? Yes, I managed to get my revenge for my parents' and boyfriend's deaths almost immediately, but it was at the risk of Selena's fucking _life_!" In the middle of her murderous growling rant, she paused to take a deep breath when she realized that she was scaring everyone and she started talking a bit more calmly, though she remained pissed off and continued growling, only lowly this time. "Sammy, revenge will get you nowhere but dead or injured if you go about it the wrong fucking way. Don't take me for example to do this shit because this little plan of yours, to ditch this case and risk these lives just to get a chance at getting your revenge, it's as fucking stupid as my plan had been. I say, have a little goddamn patience and you'll eventually get that revenge, and in a much better fashion that  _won't_  get you murdered brutally so early in your life." Pissed or not, she didn't want to see Sam pull the same mistakes she had.

        Selena was frowning at Riley and she looked towards the brothers, seeing them both looking towards Riley as she (Riley) continued fuming in a quieter fashion. "She's right, Sam…" she spoke up, Dean and Sam's attention turning towards her as she released a long sigh. "Well, she could have put it more delicately, but she is correct." Her eyes locked with Sam's and she continued to frown. "This way of thinking could lead to your downfall, Sam…" She gestured towards herself and Riley. "It was almost ours and I certainly do not wish for you to go down that path, too… Please, you must not risk it. I'd…  _We'd_  hate to lose you like that, Sam…" He was her friend and she'd be damned if she'd allow him to head in that horrid direction like Riley had; she'd give anything to prevent him from doing anything that stupid.

        Sam shook his head at Selena as he looked back towards the road that laid motionless in front of them, placing his hands on the steering wheel temporarily before removing them. He was refusing to listen to reason, his mind completely set on going through with his plan instead of thinking clearly and sticking with everyone else's plan. "I don't believe that. I need to do this." If he had to do it alone, then he'd do it alone. He wasn't about to just ignore the opportunity because they'd probably never get it again, not with their horrible luck with these sort of things. He can do it without them, if it actually comes to that. He'd probably would have to go without them. This was the only way they'd get answers.

        Dean shook his own head, not liking Sam's words at all. He locked eyes with Sam again shortly afterwards. "Dad said it wasn't safe, for any of us." Sam scoffed at him and he looked away from Dean, shaking his head furiously as he looked towards the empty road with frustration in his expression. "I mean, he obviously knows something that we don't, so if he says to stay away, we stay away," Dean stated as he continued speaking, trying to get it through Sam's skull that they needed to hold off on the revenge plan. Maybe this demon was unpredictable or very dangerous and that was probably why it was best to leave it to their father, whom had more experience than all of them combined. Their father had to be keeping them away for good reason.

        Sam scoffed at Dean again, shaking his head once more. It seemed like they just weren't gonna get on the same page with this. Sam was beginning to wonder why he was even bothering to attempt to convince Dean of switching mindsets. Clearly, he was just wasting his time. "I don't understand the blind faith you have in the man. I mean, it's like you don't even question him."

        "You've noticed that, too, huh?" Riley questioned from where she sat, appearing to be completely calm somehow, despite the fact that she had been growling her head off moments beforehand. Her tone sounded rather blank now, though, and it was far too blank for anyone's liking, but it did make it clear that she still wasn't entirely her normal self. "Awesome, I thought I was the only one who did. I can totally agree with you there; it's rather fucking annoying," she bluntly stated with dullness. Sam muttered a  _thank you_  for Riley's agreement and Dean sent a glare Riley's way again, one that read ' _whose freaking side are you on, anyways?_ '. Truth be told, she was in between with them both; she agreed and disagreed with the two of them, to a certain level. However, she already knew what her decision would be if the group were to split up suddenly; she would remain by Dean's side because while this case was an order from the bastard father of the Winchester brothers, she still wanted to save someone's life like she always did and she wanted to be there for Dean if no one else was going to do such. However, she was pretty positive that Selena would stick around with her and Dean if Sam chose to ditch them.

        As it turns out, Riley was extremely  _wrong_  to assume that Selena would stay with her and Dean if Sam chose to go off on his own. What had happened shortly afterwards was everything remotely close to being negative; another argument had ensued between Dean and Sam, resulting in Sam exiting the Impala. Shortly after the others followed in his footsteps, the argument between the brothers continued while Sam packed his bags (and while Selena tried her best to keep things from going too far (not succeeding very well with such)). In the end, Sam began walking away from the vehicle and Dean was heading towards the driver's side of the Impala, both brothers deciding that they needed to split up (though, neither of them really wanted this to happen and both were splitting up in a rather negative manner). That was when things became more unexpected; Selena returned to the vehicle with Dean and Riley, but all she did was grab her bag of items from the backseat before she closed the door of the Impala without getting back into it. Feeling disbelief, Riley questioned Selena and all Selena could say in explanation was that she couldn't allow Sam to do this alone, out of fear that his life could be lost if none of them were there with him to prevent such a thing from possibly happening. With that being somewhat settled and with Riley knowing that she wouldn't be able to change Selena's mindset (and knowing that she was unwilling to change her own), Selena walked off with Sam while Riley left with Dean. Hopefully, things would work out for all of them in the end and perhaps they would eventually regroup…

**~(Approximately) Between April 8th-15th, 2006; Burkittsville, Indiana~**

        Burkittsville turned out to be a very abundant, verdant small town in Indiana and Riley found herself dreading every single damn moment that she was spending within it because it reminded her of Selena, whom she was missing terribly. Sure, some of the trees were either withering away or were without leaves, but the trees that were completely full of leafy green, those trees somehow reminded her of Selena's purity and goodness; Selena was so full of love and life, just like these damn trees that Riley was wishing to angrily burn down. Droplets of rain dripped hurriedly from the buildings that Dean was driving by, the rain pouring down gently from the cloudy sky as it soaked all that was in its path. Riley found herself almost crying as she watched the raindrops slide down the window of the passenger door, the rain reminding her of Selena's power over water. God, she really missed her little sister a lot, but she absolutely refused to call Selena so soon because then, the reality of it all would hit her like a ton of bricks; Selena had very easily chosen to travel with Sam rather than travel with her and Dean (which additionally, and technically, meant that Selena had chosen to get answers over saving an innocent life, depending on how one looked at it), but while she wanted to be pissed about Selena leaving her like that after everything they had gone through, she understood the decision that had been made because Selena had been thinking selflessly (Selena just wanted to be certain that Sam would be safe from harm and death, making her decision very rational).

        Dean pulled over to the side of the road, once he had drove into what appeared to be the main part of the small town. He didn't turn off the engine of the Impala, though, and instead, he left the vehicle running as he dug into his jacket pocket, soon pulling out his cellphone. He flicked it open and he searched through his contacts, heading all the way down his list until he finally spotted Sam's name on it. However, he hesitated to actually call Sam, instead just simply staring at the phone in complete silence. Should he call him now or later? Should he not call him at all? He was really tempted to call Sam, though, especially after how they left things. It reminded him of the last time they separated and that was when Sam had left him, and their father, to have a normal life at college. Maybe he should just forget about Sam and focus on the case. Maybe he should call Sam, just to check up on him and Selena (whom he was worried about as well and he'd happily admit that fact to anyone because he sure as hell would have a fit if something  _else_  happened to her). This was quite a predicament… Well, it wasn't really, but it really felt like it.

        Riley stared out the rain stained window for a few more seconds before she looked over at Dean, wondering what their first move was gonna be within this town. But she immediately found herself becoming annoyed when she spotted him staring at his cell-phone.  _Again_. She rolled her eyes. "For god sake, just call him already, Dean, before you hurt yourself with all that staring and thinking." She was being a bit of a hypocrite, considering she was kind of hesitate to call her own sibling up, but that clearly didn't stop her from saying what she said.

        Dean glanced over at her for a split second before he looked back at his cell-phone. He shook his head a moment later as he flipped his phone shut, but he didn't put his cell away, not just yet. "Nah, there's no point in calling him," he told her as he stared at the phone again. The urge to call was still there, but he had already decided that he wouldn't do such a thing. He wouldn't even call Selena, cause then, he'd probably ask her if he could talk to Sam. The two of them were probably fine.

        Riley raised an eyebrow as she eyed him, close to rolling her eyes once again. She really didn't have much patience for either Winchester brother lately, but she believed she made the right choice in coming along with Dean. She hoped she wouldn't regret that decision later on, especially if he continued doing this. "Oh, really?" she questioned. "Then, why do you keep looking at your contacts each time we're at a complete stop somewhere?" she pointed out as she questioned him again. "I mean, if it really doesn't matter and if there really isn't a point to calling him, why keep staring at your phone like you want to speak with the selfish, bratty nerd?" She had a point. If Dean didn't want to talk to Sam and if he didn't think it was important to speak to his younger brother, then why was he staring at the phone so damn often?

        Dean turned his head and he glared at Riley, lowering his arm so that his hand and cell-phone were resting against his right leg. Riley was getting on his last nerve. "You know what, you have no room to talk, Riley. I've seen you glance over at  _your_ cell plenty of times during this little road trip." Riley's phone was resting in between them, at some place. "How come you haven't called Selena, huh? Too scared? There's no point to it? It doesn't matter?" He was aggravated that Riley was calling him out on his shit, so why can't he call her out on hers?

        As if she was expecting him to say something like that, Riley immediately defended her actions as she seemed to be unphased by his accusation. "Me not contacting Selena is far different than you not contacting Sam." Well, it wasn't entirely different, but she liked to believe that she had a far better reason for being hesitate to call her own sibling.

        Dean scoffed. “No, it isn’t.”

        Riley glared at him and she could already feel the urge to growl, her animal like instincts rearing its head once again. She gripped the edge of her jacket tightly. "Excuse you, King of All Jackasses, but it  _is_  very damn different." She raised her left hand, counting with her fingers as she continued speaking angrily to him. "Example Number One, you're mad at Sam but I'm not mad at Selena because while Sam was being selfish with his decision, Selena was being selfless with hers because she just wants to make sure Sam doesn't do something incredibly stupid. Reason B, I know that she's safe so, yeah, there's actually no point in calling her just to learn something that I already knew in the first place because we haven't been separated from them for that long." Okay, maybe that second reason was a bit of a bluff because she was worried that Selena's mother would catch up to her eventually and that the bitch of a woman would use the Doppelganger's existence (once she learnt of it) to get what she wanted out of Selena; basically, she was worried about not being there for Selena when that time came to pass. "Lastly, it would only make me far more upset about being away from Selena because it's one of the worst things that has ever happened to me in my life and I can't remember a day where we were this far apart from each other. And it hurts like hell, it really does, but it'll definitely hurt more if I contact her because it just will, I can't explain it." She gestured at Dean, huffing out a breath as she kept her growls back. "So, Dean, our reasons for hesitating are very different because while you're just angry and don't wanna admit that you can't control what Sam does or thinks, I'm more willing to admit that I can't do shit about anything Selena wants to do because she's her own person. So, you shut the fuck up and either call your brother to wish him luck with his horrid decision or you put your damn phone away before I shove it down your fucking throat in a very brutal manner." Maybe Dean was used to being far away from Sam, but Riley sure as hell wasn't used to being that far apart from Selena.

        Silence ensued between the two of them and very slowly, Dean placed his cell-phone back where he got it. He hadn't thought about that, about the fact that Riley and Selena never had been far apart from each other during their time as hunters. This was very new to her and it was something that was hurting her greatly, and Dean should've realized this sooner; sure, those two got separated during cases sometimes but they never were miles and miles apart, especially not for a long time. Also, it looked like both of them (Dean and Riley) were missing their respective younger sibling. Riley was also right about him not wanting to admit that he couldn't make Sam come along with them because their mindsets (he and Sam) were far different from each other when it came to their father; Dean wanted to do what their father wanted while Sam wanted to do the complete opposite. "...I'm sorry, Riles," he apologized. He didn't really know how to respond to what she had ranted out at him, so apologizing was all he could really do.

        Riley looked away from him, not liking the look in Dean's eyes. She didn't want to see how much he regretted some of his words towards her and she didn't want any of his pity since they both were sort of in the same boat, except this was her first time experiencing separation anxiety (or something remotely similar to such). "Yeah, well, so am I," she said in a grumpy manner, not actually saying an apology but the apology was hidden there, somewhere. "Let's just go figure some shit out before I turn into a dog and slaughter you inside your precious Impala." She looked towards the passenger door and she opened it, soon stepping out of the vehicle and into the rain. She let out a huff of breath afterwards, shaking her head slightly; this was gonna be interesting, probably, and very new.

        Dean removed himself from the vehicle seconds after Riley had roughly closed the passenger door behind herself. After waiting for her to walk around the vehicle, Dean soon began walking across the street once she was by his side. Together, the two hunters approached a man that was sitting outside of a café called  _Scotty's Café_. The man was dressed similarly to how Dean often dressed, except perhaps minus one layer of clothing, and the only thing keeping the long-dark haired man from getting soaked by the gentle rainfall was the awning of the café. As Dean and Riley grew closer to the man's location, Dean glanced towards the café and a longing look in his eye appeared as he caught a glimpse of the pie advertisement; he loved him some pie. However, he quickly broke his gaze off the happy discovery he had made and he, and Riley, stopped walking once in front of the middle-aged man. Dean gestured towards the sign that was hanging in front of the café before speaking. "Let me guess. Scotty?" he asked. The man looked towards the sign before he looked towards Dean, immediately confirming that he was indeed Scotty. "Hi, my name's John Bonham," Dean lied in introduction.

        “Isn’t that the drummer for Led Zeppelin?” Scotty questioned Dean, giving him a look of slight suspicion.

        It felt like the world had momentarily stopped when Dean heard those words coming from the man. His mouth dropped open, but only slightly, and he appeared to be surprised that someone had finally noticed the names he tended to use while on a case. "Wow," Dean commented when he gathered his bearings again. That really had taken him aback. He nodded slightly in respect, actually kind of glad that someone knew the classics for once. "Good. Classic rock fan."

        Riley rolled her eyes at Dean as Dean released a chuckle that was between happy and nervous. "It's not all that surprising,  _John_ ," she told Dean before she nodded towards Scotty. She didn't bother smiling politely because of her sour mood, but she did speak in a polite manner. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Scotty. I'm Joan." Joan, as in Joan Jett. Because, why not? Dean was always naming himself after random male legends, why couldn't she do the same but with female legends?

        “What can I do for you, John and Joan?” Scotty asked, something close to a fake smile appearing on his face as he stared at them both, suspicion in his eyes still.

        Dean cleared his throat as he dug into an outer pocket of his jacket. He pulled out two sheets of paper and he showed them to Scotty after unfolding them. On those papers were two missing people named Holly and Vince Parker, one of the couples that vanished in this area long ago. "I was wondering if, uh, you'd seen these people by chance. Friends of ours. They went missing about a year ago. They passed through somewhere around here, and we've already asked around Scottsburg and Salem-"

        "Sorry," Scotty rudely interrupted. He handed the flyers back over to Dean, a polite smile on his face that didn't match the emotion in his eyes. "We don't get many strangers around here." Riley immediately became suspicious of this man, probably much more suspicious of him than the man was of them. Not only had he rudely interrupted, which showed that he clearly didn't care to hear more about the missing couple, but he seemed to be hiding something since she saw worry flicker in his eyes when he looked at the flyers. Something was definitely up with this town and the hunters were gonna find out what it was.

        Dean nodded while making an  _okay_  face. He put the flyers away and he looked at the man with a sarcastic smirk. "Scotty, you've got a smile that lights up a room, anybody ever tell you that?" Scotty stared at him strangely and with more suspicion. Dean chuckled and shook his head. "Nevermind. See you around." He began to walk away from the sitting disinterested man, moving further into the town with Riley following behind him. Riley hadn't even given Scotty a goodbye at all, but who could really blame her for that? The man was a dick.

        Riley started speaking to Dean when they were far enough away from Scotty. " _'_ _You've got a smile that lights up a room_ _'_? Really? Are you serious right now? Not only was that the  _gayest_  thing I've ever heard you say, no matter how sarcastic it was, but that was also the dumbest thing I've ever heard you state." She shook her head at him, just as she had been doing for what felt like ages. "Stick to complimenting females, Dean. That's far more your forte." Dean hadn't really been complimenting the man, hence the sarcastic tone he had used when he said it, but Riley still considered it a line, even if it was of a sarcastic type.

        Dean looked over at her as they walked. "Shut up. He irritated me." No shit about that; it had been obvious that Dean didn't like being cut off in mid sentence. But even he knew that he should've said something that didn't sound sarcastic and flirtatious. The man had already been suspicious of them, but now, he was even more so and that was Dean's fault.

        "Uh huh, and yet, you chose to use a flirtatious line on him as revenge," Riley stated with a smirk. "You definitely could've used something better, something far more insulting. But nope, you choose to sarcastically compliment the smile he wore falsely." She clapped slowly, sarcastically. "Wondrous job, Dean. Absolutely stunning. You totally had him regretting his behavior."

        Dean was quiet for a moment before he responded. “...Shut up!”

**~(Approximately) Between April 8th-15th, 2006; Unknown Highway~**

        The usually beautiful bright-blue sky was now very dull in color, mist floating aimlessly within the air and it was clouding up everything in the far distance, including the sky itself which explained its dull coloring. Sam was temporarily walking backwards as he and Selena strode alongside each other on the side of the highway, the two of them slowly making their way towards some sort of civilization in hopes that it would lead them to where they wanted to be, which would be California. Around them, other than the road of the highway, were fields of dry grass and plenty of well nurtured trees. All that the two hunters had with them were two separate worn-out backpacks that contained mainly just clothing and a few weapons, in case they ran into some sort of supernatural trouble (although, Selena would unlikely use her own weapons since she wasn't a large fan of using anything remotely harmful to all beings). Additionally, the both of them didn't believe they would run into such, not until they finally come across John in the far away state that they needed to get to. Unfortunately for them, they were unaware that they would be meeting a supernatural being mere minutes from what it was currently and they were even more unaware that both of them would become unlikely allies with this being in the very distant future…

        Sam started to walk correctly again shortly after a few moments had passed by, doing such immediately after he  _almost_  stumbled backwards when the back of his foot hit a medium sized boulder in the ground. Chuckling to himself at the almost accident once he was facing the correct direction whilst walking continuously with his balance back in order, he glanced over at Selena to find that she was smiling a little bit to herself, her being slightly amused by the incident that just happened (which she barely managed to witness and if the incident had actually occurred, she would've been worried instead). For the entirety of their walking together, they had barely spoken to one another; their conversations were rather short and they happened every fifteen minutes or so, but it wasn't because they had nothing to speak about, it was more because neither of them had wished to talk that much after the little split up from their respective older siblings. However, Sam wanted to talk longer this time around, but only because the constant silence was beginning to drive him a bit crazy in the head; that and he just wanted to speak with her again, just because. "I really appreciate that you came along with me," he said as he eyed her, continuing on with his walking. Selena hummed happily in response, appearing content with her decision. "I know it must be hard, you being away from Riley," he continued seconds later, soon seeing a frown appear on Selena's face instead of the amused smile, having hit a slight nerve unintentionally. "You guys seemed to always stick together, most of the time anyway." That probably didn't make things any better.

        Selena's frown quickly became a smile of both sadness and happiness as her older sister continued to be mentioned by Sam. "Up until she and I met you, and Dean, yes. We were hardly ever apart. Even whilst we were temporarily traveling with you, we tried avoiding being too far away from each other unless it was deemed necessary for the case we were on." She released a long sigh, shaking her head sadly as she frowned again. "This time is far different than that because we didn't reunite after a few mere hours and we certainly won't be reuniting in a matter of days, which is what saddens me most about this. Only time will tell us when we will all regroup. Perhaps after they have settled things where they are or perhaps after we have settled some matters of our own. We'll know when the time comes." In all honesty, she was taking the separation from her sibling far better than how Riley was taking it. Maybe it was because of how she was or perhaps, it was because she had gone many years without knowing of Riley's existence and she could easily adapt to being without her again, something that Riley herself was having trouble with doing despite her having gone years without Selena.

        Sam nodded slightly in agreement. "Yeah, I guess you're right about that." He reached up, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly as he placed his other hand into a pocket of his jacket. Seconds later, he removed his hand from his head and he placed that hand within a different jacket pocket. One would think that the conversation would come to an awkward pause or enter the point of awkward silence, but that didn't happen, not this time. "Um, there's something I've been meaning to mention," he began after a moment. Selena eyed him and he eyed her back as they continued with their walking, never stopping. "You're gonna have to, uh, cool it with your powers when we're around my dad. He won't take the discovery very lightly. He might…" Sam sighed. "Just, try to be careful, okay?" he asked of her, not wishing for any incidents to occur once they found the man. It was very highly likely that his father would attack her out of instinct if he learnt that she wasn't exactly normal.

        “He isn’t very trusting of those that are different, is he?” Selena asked, out of curiosity.

        Well, that was certainly putting it mildly. It was more likely that John would murder her violently than be civil about the matter, but Sam wasn't gonna let Selena know that information. "Not really, no," Sam answered, trying to hide the full truth of his father's nature to Selena. He didn't want her to be bothered by the information, so he chose to keep it to himself for now. However, there certainly wasn't a point to him hiding this fact from her, mostly because she was able to figure that shit out on her own without any help necessary.

        Selena let out a long hum, nodding her head several times in a very slow manner as she appeared to process the information that was given. She could tell that he was trying to hide something from her, due to his slight hesitation between sentences, and she already knew, or at least felt like she knew, what the information was that he tried to keep from her. "I shall be careful. I wouldn't want to become one of your father's supernatural victims." Sam immediately gave her a horrified look and she half smiled at him. "I can read between the lines, Sam. It is likely that your father will attack me if I show any signs that I am not entirely human and me being whom I am, I know for a fact that I wouldn't defend myself against him and not just because he's your father. Therefore, I am either to be careful whilst around him or I am to risk getting myself killed in a brutal way by an experienced hunter that has seen far more than you, myself, Riley, and Dean combined. I additionally do quite believe that you'll be needing my help for a while, so complete secrecy is what we'll go for, until it's time to let it all loose." There was the very high possibility that her secret would be revealed to the Winchester father eventually, but that was likely to only happen if they were in great peril or something of that nature. Other than that, the secret certainly could be kept and she could easily avoid having to use her powers, unless it was an emergency.

        Sam frowned, not enjoying the sound and thought of Selena potentially dying. And he certainly didn't like the idea of his own father being the one to end her life. "Don't talk about dying," he told her in an almost whisper. "We almost lost you once already and that was because of your doppelganger and a car accident." None of them had spoken of that incident much since it had happened. They never discussed a plan, not fully anyway, of how they were gonna deal with this doppelganger that was residing within Selena. Sam had looked up legends of doppelgangers and it only told him something that he already kind of knew; doppelgangers could be referred to as doubles (you know, someone just having a lookalike somewhere in the world like with Juliet and Selena looking the same, except with a double, the person looks exactly the same) or having an evil apparition of oneself and while the latter was more suitable for their situation, it said nothing about the apparition being an actual part of the person it was manifested from. In other words, they didn't have much to go by and it wasn't likely that they'd find out anything more about their problem any time soon unless a similar situation came up with someone else.

        "Yes, I know of this. I had been there," Selena stated in a slightly smart manner, but she meant nothing of it and she probably hadn't even realized that she was being such. She paused her walking after a few seconds and she turned to face him fully, eyeing him as he looked at her whilst pausing his own movement. At the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of something, or someone, a little ways ahead of them (technically beside them right that moment) but she didn't put her full attention towards the figure because of the conversation that was to be continued. Although, she was certain it was probably just an abandoned object or someone hitchhiking, just like they were currently trying to accomplish. "But we all have to go at some point in time, Sam Winchester. It is how life works, even for someone like myself," she continued with a frown. Even as a half human and half immortal being, she had the ability to die like any normal human and mortal creature. Hell, even some of the immortal creatures could be killed. Not everyone was completely indestructible. She definitely wasn't indestructible. Far from it, actually.

        Sam released a sigh and he looked away from her momentarily, looking towards the way they had came before he looked back down at her. "Yeah, but that doesn't mean we have to talk about it. And don't think that I won't bring up the doppelganger again because that's an issue that's yet been resolved." He had noticed that she had completely glossed over that topic and she had stuck with the death one alone. Sure, it probably wasn't her favorite subject to talk about since she had something inside of her that wanted to get out and kill people, but it was still a matter that needed to be discussed at some point in time. The sooner they figured out how to deal with that, the better.

        Selena crossed one arm over her chest, her hand gripping tightly onto her cast that remained on her opposite arm (she didn't need it anymore, the cast, and yet, it remained there on her arm for an unknown reason). "This is very true," she responded to the first remark that Sam had stated. She, then, hummed shortly and began speaking again, going to the topic that Sam had mentioned a second time, though he could have mentioned it in a lighter tone than he had used towards her. "For now, my doppelganger remains dormant or rather, I wish to  _believe_  it to have become dormant since I have not been having constant nightmares of its presence that it liked having to make known. That is all I wish to speak of about its topic at the time, unless something were to arise again concerning it," she spoke gently, her eyes occasionally losing their connection with Sam's. Sam nodded in understanding (and he appeared a little annoyed with not hearing much information about it), noting her discomfort about speaking of the unseen creature (he hadn't personally seen it, so it was unseen) that resided within her. Selena removed her hand from her cast and she reached towards Sam, placing her hand gently on his arm as she changed the subject with a smile on her face, her eyes on his again. "I am glad we had met, Sam Winchester. I never thought I would become great friends with another hunter. At least, not in this lifetime because of the lack of trust Riley shares with others. Luckily for us all, we had ran into one another plenty enough times for her to had grown fond of you and Dean over a period of time. I, on the other hand, had been fond of you and Dean since the end of our first case together with the Wendigo." She lowered her hand from his arm. "You additionally accepted me as I am and that continues to make me happy, the same going for Dean as well despite it taking him a longer time to do such. And being here with you right now, it gives me great joy because I know that you'll be okay, especially with me watching you and having your back." She would protect him with her life because she cared about his well being; why wouldn't she, they were friends.

        Her semi-long speech about friendship caused Sam to smile down upon her, his annoyance from slightly earlier fading away as happiness replaced it. "I'm glad we met, too, Selena," he replied. He didn't say more about that topic, he didn't need to. He was always trying to remain kind towards her and Riley since the moment he met them, firstly out of the kindness of his heart (he didn't want to seem rude) but eventually, the friendly mannerisms became more real as he actually grew to care about the sisters; he was far more concerned about their well being now than he had been about six months beforehand when he first knew them. After a moment, he chuckled, thinking of something Selena had said. "You made me sound like I'm some sort of damsel in distress. I should be the one having  _your_  back and be protecting  _your_  ass." Selena released a laugh and she nodded in agreement, muttering  _true_  under her breath. "How about we protect each other? That way we have equal responsibility for protecting someone. Deal?" he asked, raising his hand for a shake. Selena smiled and nodded, taking his hand and shaking it whilst uttering  _deal_.

        As they both turned to commence moving forward to whatever place they needed to go before they could eventually get to California, they spotted someone sitting not too far away from them. Selena certainly had not been seeing things earlier because the person was the figure that she had spotted moments ago (before she dismissed it to talk with Sam more). The person appeared to be a young woman, from what they could tell considering that the person's back was towards them; the person, the woman with boy-short blonde hair, was sitting on a bag and she was attired in a gray-and-brown hoodie, simple blue jeans with a belt, some dark-colored shoes, etc. She, additionally, appeared to be unaware that Sam and Selena were walking closer towards her, but that was likely because she had white earbuds on and she was bobbing her head to the rock music that the two hunters could barely hear. Sam moved until he was right behind the woman, Selena standing close behind him, and he gently placed his hand on the stranger's shoulder. However, that probably wasn't the best option to use since because she hadn't heard them approaching, she had been (seemingly) unaware of them being there and with a loud gasp, she jumped up from her seat on her bag and she spun to face the newcomers. She let out a breath as she stared at them with her hazel eyes, pulling her earbuds out as she eyed Sam the most, Sam holding a hand up in surrender. "You scared the hell outta me," she remarked with a smile (or maybe it was a smirk).

        “I’m sorry,” Sam apologized as he lowered his hand. He gestured towards her items that laid on the ground near their feet. Behind him, Selena remained silent as she watched them interact with one another, not entirely sure what to make of this woman that they had come across. “I just thought you might need some help,” Sam continued, trying to be friendly with the only person that he and Selena had seen in several hours.

        The woman, whom was referred to as Meg Masters by the people she would meet and let live, nodded her head slightly in understanding towards why Sam had startled her in the first place. Shortly afterwards, she shook her head slightly whilst still smirk-smiling. "No, I'm good, thanks," she responded as she began to roll up her earbuds, taking her eyes off Sam and Selena momentarily. Out of pure curiosity, Sam asked her of where she was trying to head to and that caused Meg to look at him once again, her pulling off an  _are you serious right now_  expression. "No offense, but no way I'm telling you." She nodded towards Sam and silent Selena. "You two could be some kind of freaks. I mean, you both  _are_  hitchhiking together." Wasn't the first rule of life supposed to be that you're not to speak with strangers cause they could potentially kill you? That rule certainly wasn't something Meg herself had to worry about either way for obvious reasons (she was a demon), but Sam and Selena definitely should start using that rule before they got themselves into trouble (too late for that because Meg the Demon was here to slowly cause some chaos).

        Sam chuckled at Meg’s words and he shook his head ever so slightly. “Well, so are you,” he pointed out immediately afterwards. That was a rather good point.

        Meg laughed a bit at that before she turned her attention towards Selena. She didn't necessarily start speaking to Selena at that moment, but her further acknowledgement of Selena's presence was brought up more. "Who's your mouse-like  _friend_  over there? Or should I say  _girlfriend_? Is she usually all quiet like?" she asked, actually kind of curious if the girl was a weakness of his. Maybe if a vehicle didn't come by soon, she'd kill them both for fun or something. She eyed the cast that was on Selena's arm and she looked over at Sam, raising an eyebrow. "I certainly hope you aren't the reason why her arm is in an ugly ass cast." She faked concern and suspicion, something she was quite talented at doing since she had been possessing this body for a long while. These two don't know what they're getting into by talking with her. But, perhaps they'd get lucky if a car happened to come by at the right time.

        “She’s just a friend,” Sam immediately stated in automatic defense. “And it was a car accident that did that,” he added on, defending himself from potentially looking like an abusive jackass.

       Meg scoffed as she continued on with smile-smirking at him. He was an intriguing human, she'd give him that much. "That's exactly what they all say in the beginning before things get hot and heavy in the bedroom." She said absolutely nothing about what he said in defense of her assumed accusation because she honestly didn't give a shit about that. The only business she cared about was her own and that was that.

        Selena began to finally speak after being silent since slightly before the conversation started between Meg and Sam. Her tone and mannerism caught Meg off-guard for just a few seconds because Meg had been expecting her to react in a more negative way (most females tended to be bitchy towards females they only just met, but Selena was far different than those types of ladies). "I do not believe that is the case for me and him, though," Selena informed Meg without revealing Sam's name or her own. "We truly are just friends and we shall remain such forever." Until death caused one or both of them to die, anyways. Maybe not even then, though.

        Meg hummed as she eyed Selena again. Damn. She hadn't been expecting for her to be intriguing, too. This certainly was a treat for her; she was tired of meeting the same old humans that did the same old thing all the time. These two certainly were a bit more entertaining to be around, but they'll be dead in the end, just like the others. And it'll still be fun to kill 'em. "Forever's a long damn time. I hope you two know what you're doing," she told them as she turned her attention towards both of them and not just Selena. She had to admit that she was disappointed that the girl wasn't a large weakness of the guy or him hers, but she could still have her fun with them, right? Wrong, that fun would just have to wait a while.

        A loud honking of a van's horn brought the three of them out of their conversation. The three turned as they watched the white van pull over right beside them, its wheels releasing a squealing sound as it slowly came to a stop. The man sitting within the driver's seat looked rather shady at best, which meant that he definitely didn't look like someone whom could be trusted; that was the thing about hitchhiking, you had to hope that you wouldn't catch a ride with some creeper that could potentially murder or cause other harm to your person. "Need a ride?" Shady Van Guy asked, speaking  _only_  to the females. When Sam answered along with Meg as Selena remained silent, Shady Van Guy showed disinterest in him coming along for the ride. "Just the girls. I ain't takin' you," he stated to Sam without hesitation, making his intentions clear. Meg quickly gathered her belongings without a second thought, knowing that the man wouldn't be able to touch her (if he had even wanted to) because of what she truly was, and she hopped into the passenger's seat. Shady Van Guy looked by her, his eyes on Selena as he nodded for her to get into the back of the van, but Selena made no move to hop into the vehicle with the stranger. Instead, Selena moved to stand behind Sam as Sam began pulling her behind him in a protective manner, which visibly displeased the driver.

        Sam shook his head as he stared at Meg in disbelief, her actions having caught him off-guard. "You trust Shady Van Guy and not us?" he questioned her. He couldn't wrap his head around that one. Anyone in their right mind would've chosen not to hitch a ride with this random creep, especially after he made it clear what his intentions were gonna be. How were Selena and himself less trustworthy than Shady Van Guy? Just how?

        Meg smiled (maybe smirked) at him, like she had been doing the whole time. "Definitely." She wasn't bothered by it at all, for obvious reasons that the hunters weren't aware of. Before she turned her head away from Sam and Selena completely, she paused for a split second when she overheard Selena wishing for her to be safe on her journey. She should've expected that one, given the fact that the girl seemed too innocent and kind for this world. "Yep," she responded in almost a flat tone as Shady Van Guy began to drive away from the hunters. As she sat there in the passenger's seat during the boring ride that would end with her killing the driver, she kind of wished she'd see those two again because she'd like to kill that girl first, just because of her naivety. That certainly would be fun…

**~(Approximately) Between April 8th-15th, 2006; Burkittsville, Indiana~**

        Shortly after Dean and Riley had walked away from the very suspicious Scotty, the two of them wandered around the small town for a while in search of someone who'd know where the missing couple went. They spoke with various townspeople as they walked, but no one had an answer that they wanted to hear. They eventually came across a general store in the middle of the small, unwelcoming town. Upon entering it, Dean and Riley became acquainted with the older couple that ran the place, Harley and Stacy Jorgeson. Dean showed them the photos of the missing people in hopes of finally getting a lead, but neither of them seemed to know about the couple at all, just like the rest of the townspeople before them. All seemed lost for the hunters as they were beginning to somewhat believe that they weren't gonna get any clues (other than the clue that Riley individually gathered of the townspeople maybe hiding something dark and secret), but then, the niece of the general store owners, named Emily, came down some stairs and she had the perfect memory of the couple that had gone missing, which rose more suspicions from Riley since she didn't trust anyone in the town. Conveniently enough, Harley suddenly seemed to remember the missing couple as well and he was more than very happy to send the hunters in the same direction that he had sent the missing couple the year before, which made Riley feel even weirder about the town; something was definitely wrong with these people.

        The ride in the Impala that followed shortly afterwards was very silent and mostly uneventful.  _Mostly_. Whilst they were passing by an orchard, frantic loud beeping suddenly began to sound in the backseat as Dean's EMF meter started going berserk from within Dean's duffel bag. Dean pulled the Impala over as Riley turned towards the backseat, leaning over to reach into the duffel to pull out the EMF meter. Sitting back in her seat correctly, she eyed Dean with an eyebrow raised as the EMF meter continued to go off. Unintentionally, she pointed the object towards the window on her side and the beeping became louder than it had been, causing the two hunters to share a look with each other. It didn't take very long after that for Dean and Riley to discover that there was something up with the orchard, the two hunters soon exiting the Impala. The orchard was well maintained, but it had aged quite a lot, and the two of them walked through the rows of trees slowly, taking their time to look around the area for anything that was the cause of the EMF meter suddenly going insane. Dying leaves crunched as Dean and Riley strode along them, and a mist was hanging low on the ground. Nothing visibly seemed abnormal to the two of them as they continued their search for answers, but they both could admit to themselves that the place was very unsettling at best.

        It certainly didn't take a very long time before Riley began to complain again, something she had been doing quite a lot recently; it was almost as if nothing pleased her anymore. In reality, she simply was almost always annoyed with something whilst on a case; it was just something that happened more often than not because of random things. "I really hate this fucking town," she commented bluntly as she eyed the aging leaves of the trees that they were walking by slowly. "Before you ask," she continued further after getting the feeling that he'd ask her for a reason why. "I just do, okay? I don't really need an actual reason to hate it. I just know that everything about this place is giving me major bad vibes, so that's good enough for me." She paused her walking immediately afterwards and she grabbed onto Dean's left arm, making him stop as well. She shifted uncomfortably on her feet as her cast became a bit of an annoyance to her. She faced Dean completely and she gestured towards the Impala, mainly trying to point at the road and the direction that they had come from. "Those people back there in that stupid green town, they were being suspicious as hell, Dean. Like so extremely suspicious that even you should've noticed it, too." Dean gave her a confused expression and she scoffed. "Oh, of course you didn't notice. You were too busy making goo-goo eyes at the young chick that helped us out." Dean made a pouty face instead of sending a glare at her, showing that Riley's statement was very true and he damn well knew it. Riley shook her head as she continued her words, explaining the suspicious behavior she had spotted and Dean had missed. "You can't just go from ' _I don't know who they are_ ' to being all ' _oh, yeah, I know who these folks are and exactly where I sent them because my relative just so happened to recall them_ ' in a millisecond." That was just way too convenient for her liking, making that something they needed to pay attention to.

        Dean let out a sigh and he stared at Riley, his arms hanging loosely at his sides. As suspicious as that had sounded, he didn't think there was anything truly wrong with it. Mostly because things like that happened from time to time and it was usually just nothing. "I think you're reading too much into it, Riles," he told her. Almost immediately, a glare was sent at him. By this point in time, glares from her didn't phase him much since she usually did that. "I mean, you can't just assume that something's up from that alone," he explained, which caused Riley's glare to soften up a tad. He gestured at his head for emphasis of his next words, choosing to dismiss Riley's suspicions entirely since he was pretty sure that it was nothing of importance. "Memories come and go as you get older. Maybe they did forget before it just suddenly clicked again. It happens." It was probably nothing. Right?

        Riley rolled her eyes at Dean's last words as her glare vanished completely, a small peg of doubt entering her heart. Sure, that did usually tend to happen every now and then, but she couldn't fully shake the feeling that these people were hiding something and for good reason. Scotty definitely was trying to hide something because he was a complete asshat. The older couple at the general store had to be hiding the same thing, especially after that obvious little stunt that Harley tried to pull with the whole remembering fakeout. She knew damn well that she wasn't just going crazy. Something was definitely wrong here, but she wasn't sure what yet. It probably had something to do with the case itself. She didn't bother informing Dean of Scotty's earlier actions because Dean would probably just say something else that would make her feel more stupid than she should be feeling; she didn't need more doubts placed into her heart and brain. "Well, you do agree with me that this place is very strange, though, right?" she asked him, hoping he'd agree with her on that at least.

        "Oh, yeah. Definitely," he stated to her without any hesitation, nodding his head. He turned away from her, beginning to walk through the trees again as he headed further into the orchard. Riley followed closely behind him, her arms crossed as she frowned to herself; she was very displeased that Dean wasn't with her on the suspicious townspeople hiding something theory, something she had thought he'd agree with. As they recommenced with their search for something abnormal, Dean frowned himself as he thought over the short conversation that was just had. Maybe he should've been more open-minded with her theory. What if she was right to be suspicious of them? Even he could agree that something wasn't entirely right with most of the town claiming that they hadn't seen the missing couple. However, within seconds of thinking about it, he completely dismissed that as well because maybe the townspeople really didn't see the couple as they passed through town or maybe the townspeople just didn't remember them, like the older couple, since the missing couple was only there for probably a hour or two at most before they had left and vanished forever.

        "Soooo, about that almost kiss," Riley suddenly began at a random moment, a frown still on her face. They needed to talk about that moment, especially now that they had the time to do it since they were without their siblings. She needed to know what the hell that was and if it meant anything at all. Did she actually have a chance with Dean after all this time or was she still just hoping for something that would never happen? She had longed for her attraction towards him to go away for the longest time, but by this point, she was glad she still felt something for him. Maybe this was far more than just a simple crush. Maybe she was falling in love again... Just maybe she was... That sure would be something, her falling in love despite her wishes not to.

        Dean groaned audibly, lowering his head slightly as he walked further forwards. God, he could just drop dead right here and now. He felt like a deer caught in headlights. "Not that bullcrap again..." he muttered, though it was loud enough that Riley had heard him. Ugh, why did she have to bring that up again? Why now of all times? Why did she have to do that during a case? Why couldn't she mention it in between cases? Better yet, why couldn't she just leave it be and never mention it again? Would she ever shut up about it if he dismisses her again? Probably not. She'll likely bug him until he said something about it. Well, if she was gonna force this on him out of the blue, he was gonna give her an answer that she probably wasn't gonna like to hear.

        Riley huffed after hearing his mumbled words and she metaphorically put her foot down as she followed him continuously through the orchard, coming to a stop behind him when he suddenly paused and turned towards her with an annoyed expression. She spoke before he started speaking again. She wasn't about to let him get away so easily from this topic. Not again. This was happening now and he was just gonna have to endure it. "You can't keep on saying that it wasn't almost a kiss, Winchester!" She thrusted her hand against his chest, pushing him only slightly since she used very little force behind it. "Be a fucking man and stop running away from your actions! Talk about your feelings for once, goddamn it! Do you even like me at all?! Or were you just caught up in the moment?! A girl needs to know these things for fuck sake! Actions like that cause a girl to think too much about the reason behind it!" She might've inadvertently implied that she liked him, but it was whatever. It wasn't like it was a lie because she  _did_  like him. A lot, despite her lack of showing it often. She wouldn't be surprised if he already knew that she liked him because she tended to make that fact known through occasional flirting. And from what she was doing right now, that probably also made it clear that she liked him. Unless he was just  _that_  stupidly oblivious to obvious things.

        "I was caught in the moment, obviously. You were emotional and I was feeling things that I wanted to ignore. What better distraction than to try and kiss you," Dean lied. "But that didn't happen and it isn't going to. Sure, you're a very attractive woman, but you aren't my type," he continued, speaking in a half truth. He did like her, a lot more than he should really, but he wasn't about to let her have the satisfaction of knowing that yet, especially since she had been really annoying lately. Additionally, yes, she really was very attractive, too damn attractive, but the girls that he usually went for were chicks that he could have simple one-night stands with. There had been that one woman that he had fallen for in the past, but that ended horribly and he sure as hell wasn't about to go through that bullshit again, even if this situation was the complete opposite of what that was. He just couldn't really see himself being with Riley in that sort of way, especially with all the consequences that would happen if the relationship failed.

        Riley really, really did not like the answer that she had gotten. He was just caught up in the moment? He didn't actually like her in that way? She didn't care that he found her attractive because he just practically slapped her in the face when he stated that he wasn't into her. But what pissed her off the most about that was the fact that he preferred one-night standees over her. "Ohhh, so I'm not your type and yet, sluts and whores are?" Riley questioned him, growling a little bit as she felt the urge to bite his head off. Seriously, how in the fuck was she on a lower level than those types of women? Just how? She's supposed to be above them on the sex chain. Did Dean seriously think that little of her, romantic wise anyways? That was really hurtful. "Dean Winchester, you  _really_  should stop thinking with your meat-stick for fucking once. It better be soon, too, or else, I'll tear it off with my claws." Her eyes brightened in color as her raised right hand morphed into a wolf's paw momentarily. Dean didn't look entirely frightened, but he was a bit worried that she'd go through with her threat since she seemed to mean business this time. Her hand morphed back into its original human form after a few seconds and Riley quit her growling, hurt still in her eyes. She regretted speaking to him about anything to begin with; it seemed to mostly end in shit when they spoke. If only she had realized that Dean had been lying when he had said what he said.

        Dean honestly could say that he hadn't exactly expected all of that to come from her. He actually thought she'd react a little bit better than that since it wasn't that big of a deal. Unfortunately, since he was oblivious to her feelings for him still (somehow), he was wrong to believe that it wouldn't be a big deal. "Why the hell does it even matter if it meant something or not?" Dean asked, throwing his arms out in frustration. Riley was gonna be the death of him someday. She confused the hell outta him too often, she was always so moody and bipolar, and she was just fucking irritating nonstop most days. Yet, he liked her a lot, despite all those flaws. Goddamn, life was fucking cruel. Why her? Of all the people that he could potentially fall deeply for, why her?

        "It doesn't matter!" Riley exclaimed, denying that it did actually matter to her. "I was only just curious! Damn!" Well, that wasn't exactly a lie, but it definitely wasn't very close to the truth of the real reason why she had asked in the first place. And so, the two of them were right back where they had started and never really left; they were completely oblivious to one another's true feelings and they were constantly annoyed with one another for random reasons. What a delight.

        Dean stared at her with a very annoyed expression again. Seriously? They were in the makings of an argument waiting to happen, one that Riley had started, and then, she goes and says that none of it mattered? Why the hell did she mention it all in the first place, then? Oh, wait, she said she had been curious to know his response. God, she was so freaking annoying. "You know," he said in the most patiently calm tone he could muster after all that shit. "I've just about had it up to here with your nonsense," he told her, raising his left hand to level it with his neck. The two of them were constantly running circles around each other, it was so frustrating, and the both of them wouldn't be feeling so negative right now if Riley had just kept her mouth shut about the event that almost happened. Gosh. He turned his attention away from her, about to begin walking again when something caught his eye; in the small clearing just a short ways ahead of them stood a creepy ass scarecrow. He began to approach it slowly (which caught the immediate attention of Riley whom followed behind him just as quickly as she realized he spotted something, her anger taking flight as her attention was brought back onto the case) and he stared at the thing once he (plus Riley) was standing in front of it. "Dude, you're fugly," he commented as he stared at the hideously disturbing thing.

        The scarecrow was in all dark clothing, a trilby (or fedora-styled) hat atop its barely visible stringy dark hair and its mask was something out of a horror film, the mask beige in coloring and it was stitched to hell with empty black sockets for its eyes. As Dean and Riley eyed the scarecrow that sat on its post motionlessly, they both took notice that it was armed with a sickle. Surprisingly, it wasn't covered in blood because that would've made things creepier. "That's totally not terrifying at all," Riley commented with sarcasm as she stared at the weapon with slight interest. She glanced over at Dean, only to notice that he had grabbed a nearby ladder and she watched as he placed it in front of the scarecrow. Oh, hell no. "Dude, what the shit are you doing?" she questioned him in disbelief. No way was he gonna get up close and personal with this thing, right? Wrong, so wrong and she should've expected such because this was Dean; if he could stick his hand in a pile of bugs without thinking of what could grab him, he could do just about anything else recklessly too. He ignored her and he climbed up the ladder, getting on eye level with the creepy scarecrow. He stared at its mask for a bit before he moved on to its right arm, moving the fabric of its clothing away to reveal a very familiar design. He pulled out the photo of one of the missing persons and sure enough, the tattoo on the man matched the one on the scarecrow (and he stated this out loud so Riley could get what was happening). "The Scarecrow Walks at Midnight. Quite literally, I'm assuming. Damn, R.L. Stine had no clue he was writing about actual monsters. I'm never gonna be able to read that book again without thinking back to this," Riley stated at random, shaking her head as the idea processed fully in her mind. Seconds later, she scoffed and made a face. "I can't believe this shit. A damn scarecrow is killing people. A scarecrow of all things. I've seen absolutely everything now." She sighed seconds later, placing a hand to her face as she continued staring at the scarecrow. "This is fucking ridiculous."

        Just like that, Dean was instantly back to being very annoyed with Riley again. That wasn't much of a surprise anymore. He climbed back down the ladder, not bothering to move it back where he had found it as he turned to face Riley again. "Why the hell didn't you just go with Sam and Selena, then? Well? It would've saved you a lot of trouble. Would've saved me a lot of trouble, too." If she had gone with them, they wouldn't be having this conversation. Hell, they wouldn't have had any conversation and things would've been more dandy than they currently were. Man, he was really getting tired of her complaining.

        Riley placed her hands firmly on her hips and she glared slightly at him. She was beginning to grow very tired of the random pettiness between them. Sure, it was mostly her own fault that such pettiness existed, but still, she was growing tiresome of it. "I did this for you, you jackass," she revealed without hesitation and with a low growl. Not having expected that answer, Dean's eyes widened in surprise. He wasn't entirely sure what that meant, but he hadn't expected those words. "I don't give a rat's ass about your dad's precious orders, not one damn bit. You, on the other hand, I do give a shit about. I wasn't about to just let you come here alone and I wasn't about to travel with Sam to meet the very man that pissed me off to begin with." She raised one hand off of her hip, gesturing at nothing as she continued. "I still hope the bastard dies because he's clearly always bossing you and Sam around. However, at least Sam has the balls to say no to the man." She sighed. "For once, Dean, stop listening to what the man says and just fucking do shit because you wanna do it, not because you gotta make him proud." Those words were nearly a match to something that Selena had said before the split up and she had been completely right. Riley lifted her other hand from her hip and she crossed her arms, her eyes remaining on Dean. "I get that he's your father and all that, but when has he actually  _been_  a father to you?" she questioned him.

        Dean couldn't muster up the strength to glare at her, his mind fully on her last words. He didn't know how to answer her, he really didn't. He had to think really hard about it because he couldn't really remember many times where John was a father and not a military commander; he couldn't remember many times where his father showed concern above getting something done correctly. Well, there's that one time where his father had gotten angry with him because he failed to protect Sam from a monster when they were younger. Another example of concern for either of them would be of what happened recently, when his father told him and Sam to stay away from California. Basically, other than during any time where Sam and himself were in any situation that could've killed them (aka, whenever there was a very close call), John didn't really show much concern. With that question answered inside his head, Dean kept his mouth shut as he looked away from Riley. As a result, Riley just sighed and she began walking back towards the Impala, their time in the orchard running its course as Dean followed after her once a moment had passed by.

        Following their return to the Impala, Dean and Riley made their way back into the town. On their way there, Dean openly admitted that he now could agree with Riley that something was up with the townspeople. All it had took for him to agree was him finding that scarecrow on the road that Harley had sent them off to. Only thing Dean got back in response was an angry  _I told you so_  moment. Upon reentering the town, Dean drove up to the general store and he pulled in front of a gas pump. Emily was conveniently standing outside, standing right at the gas pump that Dean parked by. Riley stayed in the Impala as Dean got out to speak with Emily whilst Emily refueled the Impala for him, which Riley rolled her eyes at when she noticed this through the rearview mirror. Not many words of importance were exchanged between Dean and Emily, though Dean did mention the orchard and the scarecrow, him wanting some information about them, but all he got from Emily was the fact that she had no clue who owned the creepy thing. Shortly after that, he pointed out a red van that was parked behind Emily and he immediately learnt from her that another couple had arrived in town, another potential set of victims for the creepy scarecrow. With that said, his conversation with Emily was over with.

        After getting back into the Impala, Dean quickly informed Riley of the new potential victims that had arrived into town. Before long, they were pulling up to Scotty's Café where the couple was located. Upon entering, Dean and Riley sat at the table closest to the couple, beginning to make conversation with them after ordering some coffee and pie. Immediately after the hunters just had a few friendly sentences shared with the kind couple, Scotty appeared to be agitated with them being there but they ignored it and they continued onward with speaking with the couple. More suspicions about the townspeople rose when Dean and Riley learnt from the couple that apparently there had been a problem with their vehicle (a problem that they hadn't been aware of beforehand because the problem didn't really exist in the first place). Problems began to rise up for the hunters as well when the couple began to grow uncomfortable with the warnings that Dean and Riley were trying to give them. If Sam and Selena had been there, the warnings would've actually been considered because the two of them just had that certain quality that made people want to listen to them. Not long after that, the sheriff of the town entered and it was immediately made known that Scotty had contacted him (even though Dean and Riley weren't really doing anything wrong, which rose even more suspicions about the townsfolk). Shortly after that, Dean and Riley were escorted out of the town by the sheriff but the hunters were nowhere close to thinking about staying far away...

**~(Approximately) Between April 8th-15th, 2006; Uncertain Location~ (SHORT)**

        Life was full of coincidences and unfortunate circumstances, but surely, this had to be the biggest coincidence and unfortunate circumstance of them all by far. It was almost as if it were meant to happen, almost as if it were planned from the start by some force of nature. Sam and Selena had finally made it to a bus station, only for them to learn that a bus to Sacramento wouldn't be running until late the next day. Sam was visibly dismayed by the information and Selena proceeded to try to comfort him, even suggesting to him that maybe he could call Dean to see how things were with him and Riley. Sam thought about doing such, but he quickly changed his mind, suggesting that Selena should be the one to do it since she wasn't the one whom had an argument with Dean before the split up. Before Selena could even think about pulling out her cellphone that she rarely ever used, that was when the power of Satan decided to reunite them with Meg Masters. Meg was sitting on the ground nearby, watching them with great pleasure; she hadn't seen that one coming, the two of them showing up, but boy, she sure as hell was pleased to see them again because she had been nonstop fantasizing many different ways to brutally murder them both without care. A short conversation broke out between the three of them and introductions were formally made at last. To Sam and Selena, it was a mere coincidence that Meg was trying to get to California too, but in reality, it was just an unfortunate circumstance.

        Within a short amount of time, the three of them were seated at a table within the bus station. Various beverages and foods were sitting upon said table, all of which were ready to be taken care of. Selena was glancing around the station silently whilst occasionally sipping her Dr. Pepper as Sam and Meg made conversation with one another, Selena wishing to be left out of it for the time being. It wasn't that Selena disliked Meg because that was entirely false (she didn't particularly trust her, though), she just didn't want to speak with her, or even Sam, at that moment because she had plenty on her mind that she just really wanted to think over whilst she had time to do it. Her thoughts were mainly on the conversation that she had overheard at the asylum and these thoughts were repeating the ones that she had upon hearing the conversation firsthand; she was still quite curious about what exactly Sam was trying to hide from her (and Riley). Sam certainly had some sort of power that was similar to her own, Selena was sure about that, but she still wasn't entirely certain about why he was still trying to keep such information from her and she still wasn't certain about how long he had this power, though she guessed that it probably had been quite a while. She didn't plan on bothering him about it, though, because he'd tell her everything eventually, she was almost certain of that; after all, it was something that she could remotely relate to. Her thoughts quickly slipped towards something else after that conclusion, her only other thoughts being of Dean and Riley; she hoped the two of them were doing alright and she planned on calling them at some point in the evening or the following morning.

        Selena shook her head slightly, pulling herself out of her thoughts as she refocused on the world around her. Her eyes gazing upon Meg and Sam, she unintentionally began listening in to what they were speaking of. As Selena eavesdropped, she took notice of the fact that Meg was no longer wearing her jacket and the black somewhat-see-through shirt Meg was wearing was slipping down her left arm, revealing the black strap of her bra or tanktop that was underneath. She additionally noticed that Meg was holding up her beer bottle. "Here's to us," Meg said to Sam, her eyes only on him. In response, Sam lifted up his own beer bottle as he stared at her with slight curiosity. "The food might be bad and the beds might be hard, but at least we're living our own lives and nobody else's," Meg proclaimed, tapping her bottle against Sam's. Together, they took a swig of their alcoholic beverages. What happened seconds after that, it surprised Selena greatly; Meg turned her gaze towards Selena and she lifted her beer bottle again, awaiting for Selena to do the same with the unopened bottle that was sitting in front of her. Meg spoke after Selena hesitated to do anything. "You gonna drink or not? I'm not keeping my arm raised all evening."

        Without much more hesitation, Selena shook her head slightly again as she kept her eyes on Meg's hand and not Meg's face. "I apologize, but I do not drink alcoholic beverages." She rubbed her non-cast covered arm, feeling a bit uncomfortable under the gaze of Meg. "Alcohol damages the body as time passes onward and people tend to die early because of it, so I would much rather not risk the chances. But, uh, thank you very much for trying to include me within the inner circle in which you both created as I daydreamed." She hadn't necessarily daydreamed, but she did zone out of reality to think, so it was close enough to the truth. She lightly poked her unfinished Dr. Pepper, still somewhat eyeing Meg without fully looking at her face again. "I could use my soda instead, though, if that counts at all," she added gently, not wishing to fully displease Meg since the woman appeared to still wish for Selena to tap bottles with her.

        Meg scoffed and she continued her persistence. She was gonna get Selena to drink some beer, one way or another. Maybe she would fail to do such now, but perhaps in the near future, she'd be able to taint the female's innocence before she ultimately ended her life. "One little swig isn't gonna hurt you," she told Selena. She placed her beer bottle down onto the table, grabbing ahold of the unopened one that sat in front of Selena. She opened the bottle with ease and she held it out towards Selena, smirking a little when she made eye contact with Selena again. "Just try it already. You'll love it the second you get a taste," Meg urged. Selena stared at the beer bottle with uncertainty and Sam watched with a frown on his face, not pleased with what Meg was trying to do. "Come on, please?" Meg begged, growing tired of waiting. "Just have a little sip and that's it. What harm could it possibly do?"

        With hesitation, Selena reached out and she gripped onto the beer bottle with her left hand, gently taking it from Meg's grasp. She moved the bottle slightly towards herself before she paused, staring at the bottle as she thought about what she was gonna do next. She glanced upwards, looking towards Meg, and she kept a neutral expression as she spotted the growing smirk on Meg's face; she wasn't certain why Meg was smirking so widely, but she certainly wasn't comfortable with seeing it. Glancing away from Meg, Selena looked over at Sam and she noticed his frown, additionally noticing that his left hand was twitching from its place on the table; she knew immediately that Sam would stop her if she attempted to drink from the bottle. She, then, glanced back towards the bottle and came to the decision that she had already decided before she had gotten the bottle; she wasn't about to drink some beer because a stranger told her to try it. Looking away from the bottle again, she immediately moved the bottle towards Sam and he took it from her grasp, much to his own relief. Selena looked back towards Meg, noting the disappointment in her expression. "I apologize again, but I would much rather stick with my soda drinking days," Selena told her, smiling politely.

        Damn it all! Meg had been so sure that it was gonna work! She had given Selena an intimidating look and everything! She thought that the innocent woman had been pressured enough into trying it! It should've worked! It had looked like it was working! What the hell happened?! As Meg fumed on the inside, she remained simply displeased on the outside. "Your loss," she commented. She lifted her beer bottle again and she gestured towards Selena's Dr. Pepper, allowing Selena to just tap her glass bottle with the plastic one. Maybe she'll succeed next time...

**~(Approximately) Between April 8th-15th, 2006; Burkittsville, Indiana~ (SHORT)**

        Daylight slowly creeped into darkness as time passed on with its usual pace. The beautiful moon and the brightly lit stars weren't of much help with guiding anyone through the dark of the night, but at the very least, they did light up a few paths. A young couple, the pair of lovers that Dean and Riley apparently harassed, were strolling through the orchard, their van having broken down right by it. The couple was very dismayed because they had gotten the vehicle fixed, although they had actually just assumed such because they had believed the kind strangers in the nearby town. Unfortunately, the thought of sabotage didn't cross either of their minds as they walked through the dark and creepy orchard continuously, both unaware that they were heading towards danger. The scarecrow was no longer at its post...

        As the couple entered the clearing where the creature was generally located, the scarecrow quickly moved behind them as it rushed to another hiding place. The couple turned around upon hearing the sounds of it running, but they were unable to spot its location because it was well hidden in the darkness of nightfall. It was tormenting them, making them fearful so that its meal would be more delectable. Steve, the male of the pair, called out to it, knowing that something was there. As the couple looked around, the scarecrow came out of its hiding place, the metal of its dangerous weapon scraping against a tree as it made its way towards them. The woman started screaming and whimpering as she and Steve started running further into the clearing, the scarecrow right behind them as it gave chase. Luckily for the couple, Dean and Riley had turned the Impala back around; Dean and Riley jumped out in front of them, a shotgun in Dean's hand and a ball of white flame in Riley's hand.

        "Get back to your car," Dean instructed the couple as they stared at him. The couple looked behind themselves and both became more panicked as they noticed the scarecrow growing closer to their location. "Go! Go!" Dean exclaimed after spotting the walking scarecrow, waving for the couple to run past Riley and himself. Immediately, the couple ran by them and Riley threw her ball of white flame at the scarecrow, the scarecrow's right arm lighting on fire for a split second before the burning flames vanished without a trace. As Riley blinked from shock of what she just saw, Dean cocked his shotgun and fired at the scarecrow, only causing it to stumble but nonetheless, the creature continued walking at them. "Shit," Dean commented.

        Riley shook her head, bringing herself out of her temporary state of shock. She grabbed onto Dean's jacket, pulling him along with her. "Fucking run!" she yelled. Together, the two of them started running after the couple, Riley having slight difficulty doing such because of her cast but she managed alright. Although, as they ran, Dean continued with his attempts of shooting the scarecrow to stop it. Shots number two and three didn't work at all, neither bullet causing the scarecrow to falter in its steps like the first had. "Stop wasting your bullets!" Riley yelled at him as she looked back towards him whilst running away. "If my fire can't stop it, your bullets ain't gonna do any better!"

        "Shut up and run, damn it!" Dean yelled in retaliation as he stopped trying to shoot the creature. "Go! Go!" he continued, still yelling as he ran after everyone. Truth be told, he could've ran faster than Riley since she had her cast to prevent her from running very fast, but he purposely stayed behind her, willing to take the fall if the scarecrow caught up to them before they reached the vehicles; Dean wasn't gonna allow her to be harmed by this thing. Before long, the four of them eventually made it out of the orchard unscathed, all of them running towards the vehicles. Dean turned around, standing protectively in front of Riley (and the couple also, sorta) as he cocked his shotgun again. However, the scarecrow was no longer in sight.

        "Where the hell did it go?" Riley questioned, looking around Dean as she tried to spot the scarecrow that had been chasing them. It couldn't have just vanished, could it? Perhaps it couldn't leave the orchard? So, maybe it went back? Riley wasn't sure, but she was happy that Dean wasn't putting his guard down yet, his shotgun up and ready still. She looked towards the couple that was trembling near her, watching them hold each other. Steve caught her eye and he opened his mouth to say something, but she beat him to it. "Don't even ask."

**~(Approximately) Between April 8th-15th, 2006; Uncertain Location~ (SHORT)**

        All was completely silent inside of the gloomy bus station, only the brightness of the rising sun lighting up the area within the building via the windows. Meg was lying on the floor with her left arm positioned somewhat behind her person and her head was lying against her backpack, her right arm laying over her abdomen and her legs were crossed, one over the other. Altogether, it didn't exactly look like the most comfortable position for her to be sleeping in, but seemingly so, it appeared to be working quite well for her; she wasn't actually asleep, but the hunters sitting near her believed that she was. Sam and Selena were sitting by their bags, Selena watching silently as Sam answered his cell that had suddenly gone off seconds beforehand. Dean was calling to alert Sam of what was happening with the case and as Sam listened to what Dean had to say, he was surprised by the information that he was receiving from his older sibling.

        "The scarecrow climbed off its cross?" Sam questioned quietly, glancing over at Meg whom he still assumed was sleeping. That was definitely something that he never thought he'd hear in his lifetime. A scarecrow was killing people? That's not only really strange, but... Nah, it was just really, really strange to hear, point-blank. "It didn't kill the couple, did it?" he asked a moment later, still speaking hushedly. He honestly was a bit concerned for the potential victims, despite his lack of feeling such during the argument days ago; being away from Dean kind of reopened his mind a tad bit and being around Selena kind of caused that, too. Probably. He felt relieved when he was informed by Dean that the couple had made it out of there alive and physically unharmed. Good for them. "So, something must be animating it, a spirit maybe," Sam suggested, wanting to be of some sort of help since he had nothing better to do, but his suggestion was deemed useless because Dean immediately revealed that it was a Pagan God doing the killing of couples. Sam exchanged more information with Dean after that and they went back-and-forth with it for a moment before the conversation turned very serious, thanks to Dean. Dean could barely get an apology out to Sam for what had happened between them and the next thing Sam knew, Dean was saying goodbye to him after giving his consent of Sam doing whatever he wished.

        "Sam?" Selena questioned as she watched him lower his cell-phone from his ear. She frowned shortly after taking notice of the sad expression that was on his face. "Sam?" she asked again, reaching towards him as he stared down at his phone. "Are you alright?" She stared at him continuously, waiting for any sort of sign that he was listening to her. After a moment of nothingness, she placed her extended hand onto his shoulder and Sam moved away from her touch immediately, mumbling that he was fine. Selena's frown remained because she was not believing his words, not for even a second. "Sammy..." She was about to start speaking further, about to attempt to cheer him up somehow, but the vibrating of her cell-phone stopped her from doing such. She reached into the side pocket of her backpack and she pulled out her phone, glancing at the caller ID before answering it. She didn't even get a chance to speak one single word to her lovely and sarcastic second half-sister.

        Riley immediately started talking as soon as she was certain that Selena had answered the phone. "Lena!" she exclaimed with a hint of excitement in her tone. "Hey! Hi! Sorry to call you out of nowhere after Sam just got done with speaking with Dean, but Dean didn't think about asking Sam to pass over the phone, so here we are." Riley rolled her eyes as she glanced over at Dean, whom was driving the Impala down the street. She shifted in the passenger's seat slightly and she adjusted her hold on her phone. "He's still a jackass, by the way. In case you were wondering," she commented to Selena, which resulted in Dean reaching towards her and he pushed her a bit roughly, not pleased with her choice of words. Riley growled at him, her growl being heard over the phone by Selena, whom sighed. "Hey, don't you fuckin' push me while you're driving, you dickhead. You could wreck your precious car." Riley sighed as she looked away from Dean and she immediately got back to focusing on the currently one-sided conversation she was having with her younger sibling. "Anyways, you should've seen it, Lena. The scarecrow looked like something out of  _Halloween_. Seriously, the bitch just wouldn't go down. You'd think it was Michael fucking Myers or something. I'm rambling, aren't I? Sorry. I just really miss you, you know?" Riley's feelings were all over the place, something that happened occasionally; she was happy, excited, sad, and grumpy all at once.

        Selena smiled slightly to herself, her negative mood somewhat vanishing because of her older sister's rambling. "I am very aware of this, Riley. The feeling is quite mutual, I assure you. I miss you as well. Very much so." She was happy that Riley had called. She was a nice distraction, for starters, and she just missed hearing her voice. If Riley hadn't called, Selena herself would've called Riley instead, at some point anyway. She glanced over at Sam, whom was eyeing her, and she half-smiled at him, which he returned. "You and Dean, are you two getting along nicely?" she asked, her eyes shifting away from Sam as she spoke more to Riley.

        Riley scoffed on the other end of the line, rolling her eyes. "Did you  _not_  hear what I said to him a few moments ago? Do I need to repeat it?" Her friendship with Dean was like it always had been, rocky. Except maybe a little bit more rocky than usual because of the split up that happened. Even so, they were friendly enough with each other, like usual as well.

        Selena resisted the urge to roll her eyes at Riley, even though Riley wasn't physically in front of her. Yes, she had heard what Riley had said to Dean, but that meant nothing at all since Riley always said that sort of shit to Dean. Selena just wanted to know if their relations were slightly better or slightly worse than they usually were, out of curiosity. "Answer seriously for once in your life, please. One of these days, I might be less patient with those kinds of answers from you," she told Riley in a gentle tone. She was kidding, of course, but then again, there could come a day where she could lose her patience with someone, particularly Riley. Just like there had come a day where Selena suddenly had some extremely evil doppelganger wanting to merge with her. She still wasn't  _exactly_  sure where the entity had come from, but she had her suspicions that maybe she always had the creature with her since birth; maybe the creature was simply a dark version of herself, like doppelgangers are meant to be, except this one just resides inside her rather than outside of her, this being something she suspected when she spoke of the doppelganger to the others for the first time. Point of the matter was that the doppelganger exists somehow and the only logical reason that Selena could think up for why it does is that it's just her darkside.

        "Yes,  _Mother_ , we're getting along very nicely," Riley answered, using light sarcasm. "We haven't killed each other yet, so that's always a plus, right?" She sighed seconds later, knowing that the conversation needed to end soon. "I, uh, better get going, Len. Things to do, creatures to hunt, guys to fuck," Riley reluctantly stated. She didn't want to end the conversation just yet, but she knew that she had to because of the case. The case was far more important right that moment because it was slowly getting to an end. Dean scoffed at her, due to her choice of words, and she glared at him. She didn't bother lowering her cell from her ear as she growled at him again. "Shut the fuck up, Dean!" she yelled. Hearing Selena hum on the other line, Riley snapped back into older sister mode almost immediately. "Anyways, Lena, I just wanted to say hi, that's all. And, uh... I, umm, I love you, Selena." She didn't tell her those words very often, but she just felt like saying them in that moment, just in case something were to happen.

        Selena smiled to herself again. "I love you, too, very aggressive sister of mine." She let out a quiet laugh, one that nearly matched with Riley's half laugh. "We shall talk soon, yes? After you are finished with your hunting?" Riley hummed positively in answer. "Until then, please take care of yourself and make sure Dean does not do anything stupid." She didn't want anything bad to happen to either of them. Additionally, she just felt like Dean would probably do something stupid since both brothers tended to take turns doing something irrational. Her smile widened a bit when she glanced over at Sam and noticed that he was amused by her statement.

        Riley laughed a bit more, not just because she found those last words funny but also because she was trying to hide her tears of sadness that were finally threatening to drip from her eyes. She hated crying, but she hated being away from her little sister more. Also, if she started crying now, she'd only make Selena cry as well and she never liked it when Selena cried. "No promises on that last one. You know how Dean is with making stupid decisions." Dean glared at her but she ignored him this time. "And you too; be careful and make sure Sam doesn't make any more dumb choices in life. See ya." Riley hung up the phone before she got an answer back and she made sure to keep her attention out the window as a few tears were released...

**~(Approximately) Between April 8th-15th, 2006; Burkittsville, Indiana~ (ACTIONS ONLY; SHORT)**

        One could easily assume that a lot had occurred after the Grant-Piers half-siblings finished chatting with one another on their cell-phones, but in reality, very few things of importance had happened. For starters, Dean and Riley made it to their little appointment with a local professor that had plenty of information on Pagan Idolatry. Additionally, it hadn't taken the hunters very long to learn that the Pagan God was called The Vanir and that burning its sacred tree would make it go away. Unfortunately, after they learnt this information, they tried to make their leave so they could head back to the orchard but they were stopped by the sheriff of the town, the sheriff knocking Dean out with his weapon and he forced Riley to cooperate with him or otherwise, he would shoot her dead (the elders had another young female on standby if the sheriff was forced to kill Riley).

        Dean and Riley were locked inside a cellar for multiple hours (not many, though), unable to escape despite their best efforts; Dean couldn't slam the cellar door open and Riley's fire was as useless as it was when she tried to burn the scarecrow. As they eventually started to wait for the inevitable, the silence between them turned into a rather awkward and somewhat forced short conversation; Riley simply had just mentioned the young female that Dean seemed attracted to and Dean, point blank, told her that the girl wasn't really his type before a little argument ensued between them after some more awkwardness. Before long, the four elders of the town returned and soon enough, the hunters were taken to the orchard where the Pagan God resided. In the place of the couple that they had saved, Dean and Riley were the new potential sacrifices.

        The elders of the small green town quickly tied the hunters to two adjacent trees, seemingly leaving the area shortly afterwards. With their hands restricted, there wasn't much that the hunters could do. Riley quickly learnt that she couldn't use her fire ability on her bindings and came to realize that maybe the Pagan God was the cause of such occurrence; she was trying to keep it from getting its sacrifices, after all, so she could only assume that it was the doing of the Pagan God that was keeping her from being useful. Dean, after also realizing that Riley couldn't do anything, stated he had a plan but then, after many hours, the two of them were still in the same spot but were merely sitting within the darkness instead.

        The sudden sound of approaching footsteps caused both hunters to panic for a moment, but both of them sighed in relief and happiness when it was quickly revealed that the footsteps belonged to Sam and Selena. As Sam untied Dean and as Selena untied Riley, Sam informed Dean and Riley that he, and Selena, had stolen a car when it became apparent that the older hunters were in trouble (cause they weren't answering their phones). Immediately in response, Dean praised Sam as Riley laughed and hugged Selena. The happy moment of the reunion was short lived, however, when the four of them came to realize that the scarecrow was missing from the post. Where the hell did it go?

        As the four hunters began running through the orchard, Dean and Riley quickly informed their younger siblings that the only way to get rid of the Pagan God was to burn its sacred tree. However, when Sam suggested that they find the tree right then and there, Dean countered the suggestion by stating that they should just wait until morning before they started searching and additionally stated that they just needed to get the hell outta dodge for the time being. They can't burn a sacred tree down if they were all dead by sunrise, after all. The four of them continued onward with running through the orchard (Riley having the most difficulty for obvious reasons) and they soon entered the clearing, but in that clearing just so happened to be the elders from the town and a few other townspeople, most of them pointing their guns at the hunters; the townspeople had the four hunters surrounded. It seemed as though the hunters would be sacrificed to the Pagan God, but then, the unexpected happened; the scarecrow disguised Pagan God impaled Harley through his chest with its sickle and it additionally captured Stacy (Harley's wife) too, dragging them both away. Amidst the chaos, the remaining townsfolk ran away frightened whilst the four hunters quickly ran out of the orchard, the scarecrow and its victims vanishing from sight.

        Nightfall left as quickly as it had came, the sun finally up in the sky again. Dean, Sam, Riley, and Selena reentered the orchard with gasoline and a lighter, all of them ready to find the sacred tree and burn it to ashes. It took a while, but the four of them eventually found the tree that they were searching for; the tattoo design that was marked on the tree was a dead giveaway. Sam approached the tree and he poured the gasoline onto it. Selena picked up a long branch that had some gasoline on the end of it and she held it out towards Dean. With the lighter, Dean set the end of the branch on fire. Riley gently took the burning branch from Selena and she approached the tree, tossing the flaming stick at the tree's base and she watched the tree burn with a smile on her face. She didn't care about the town, the townspeople, or even that chick she thought Dean liked; the townspeople deserved their punishment and the chick could just leave the town whenever she finally realized her family was gone (although, she was almost certain that before they would leave the town, they would tell the poor girl of their demise). All that really mattered to Riley was that their group was back together again and she surely hoped that it wouldn't be broken apart once more...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Trivia":
> 
> 1) Urgent announcement, amazing bitches! I've decided to ask all of you lovelies something extremely special, I guess (XD). Would you like to have an idea of yours featured in the story? Well, in a review/comment to me, all you have to do is leave the plot (explaining everything exactly, like how it begins and ends, etc), name the antagonist of it (if there is one and list their powers if they have any), and name the title of it (basically a chapter title for if it gets picked). Oh and it can't be over six scenes. The best one will be featured in either this season or the next (depending on what it is exactly; I might do one or two each season after this one so not just one person will be picked out of the bunch). If you don't wanna do that, it's fine. Just know you can, if you wish to. Not everyone will be picked, obviously, if anyone even decides to do this at all. So, make it as intriguing as possible!
> 
> 2) So close! We're so, so super duper damn close to Dean and Riley doing the do! That's not exactly a spoiler, by the way, because we all figured it would happen during Route 666! But anyways, not too much longer now, just one more chapter before that one! I am excited! I hope I nail it! Super excited, you guys! Their relationship is almost completely here, sorta! It won't necessarily start, the relationship between them, but it would be the official start of something sexual between them for sure! Thank God! I was getting tired of having to wait! XD Still gotta wait but I'm closer now, so all is good with the planet! They'll still have those moments where they get annoyed with one another, though! Fingers crossed it doesn't take me until the end of the year to get to that chapter XD!
> 
> 3) Not entirely sure when we'll be seeing the doppelganger again, by the way, BUT just like with Vampire Diaries, it's gonna be a topic that comes up quite a lot (or very little until it's something that needs to be discussed; I mean, it's not like we have two people whom look alike, we have one person with a dark side that wants to come out and that side is dormant right now so basically the opposite of the Vamp Diaries overused plot holder).
> 
> 4) I apologize for the very long ass time before the update occurred. Hopefully, the next update won't take so damn long to do. I don't know. We'll see what happens when it happens. Hopefully, I'll update again next month but if not, definitely the month after that. Only time will tell for sure, though. And just for you guys, I'll tell you about the Vampire Diaries fanfiction I started a few months ago. It contains three original characters (not shocking at all, right?) and one is a lesbian whom will be with either Rebekah or Hayley. The other two, well, one will eventually take Hayley's place in the Originals plot and the third will probably end up with either Alaric, Enzo, or Kai (or all of the above, at some point in time, who fucking knows). That's my plan for that so far, so who knows. Kai Parker, though; love him so much. Oh and guess whom has become obsessed with Shadowhunters recently? Me. I blame the Malec recommendation video I had gotten on YouTube. Gah, they are so cute; they make me squeal like a little bitch and no pairing has ever made me do that in this lifetime, apart from them as far as I remember.
> 
> 5) I was waiting for forever for the moment where Meg and Selena met for the first time and though those scenes were short, I think I did good with them. I want an one-sided thing between them that'll slowly develop, but who knows, my mind might go elsewhere with the idea. The two of them could just end up being good friends or something in the future seasons. Again, who knows? My ideas constantly change. Also, I've decided that the person Selena will be with is Castiel, obviously; it just makes the most sense, you know, because of their mind set similarities. And as someone had pointed out, you know who you are, it would kind of be out-of-character for Selena if she were to be with various people. However, it isn't unlikely that she'll become friends with someone whom is evil because of how her mind works; she thinks everyone, who can think for themselves, deserve another chance at things. I've got big plans for Selena in the future because of this. Oh, by the way, considering that I've got a whole outline of this entire fanfiction, from now to the season that ended of Supernatural, I already had Castiel set as Selena's constant love interest but I hadn't been entirely certain that's the way I wanted it to go, up until now, so yay for thinking ahead and for keeping with this pairing. I hope I continue to nail everyone's personalities but it's likely I may fuck up once or thrice.
> 
> 6) This wasn't as long as I expected it would be, but plans change constantly, you know? Scenes were shortened and whatnot. I'm sorry if anyone was disappointed with getting this after such a long wait :(. Next time will hopefully be better.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading. Please, leave a kudos, bookmark, and comment. Have a nice day or night. :)


End file.
